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Movie Watching Journal 2016 part four Purpose: Movie ListKeep daily track of all movies watched, including title, main actors, and plot synopsis and mini review, include in daily journal and copy to Movie list. Use in conjunction with book read list to keep track of books and movies read and watched. Also plays attended and TV movie events. Also note when something is well written or produced and lesions I can learn for my own writing projects. Part four of four \due to length of file The List Theory of Everything HBO AThe Painted Veil HBO BOn Plane Ant Man on plane B Maze Runner Soarch Trials on plane CThe Martian on plane AIrrational Man on plane BAssassination Korean movie on plane BKorea Marco Polo Netflix CA Walk Among the Tombstones Netflix CJourney 2 Mysterious Island Netflix cBetter Call Saul series binged watched A-1Super 8 b Netflix bJumper b Netflix bHorrible Bosses Netflix b15 Zoolander Netflix bRed Riding Hood Netflix bWhat Happens in Vegas Netflix cLittle Nickey Netflix cFracture Nexflix BIn Secret Netflix bAnatomy of a Love Scene Netflix cFaster Netflix cUnder the Dome TV Series Netflix ARidiculous Six COn PlaneScouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse C Fantastic Four BPeanuts Movie CMan from U.N.C.L.E CMistress America BOur Brand is Crisis BDCThe Art of the Deal with Johnny Depp on line C too long Horrible Bosses 2 HBO triple feature night C11.14 HBO triple feature night BFrailty HBO triple feature night BUnder Suspicion 2000 HBO B 25th Hour HBO BWin Win 2011 HBO A A Little Chaos 2014 B Eulogy 2014 CInherent Vice bMansfield Park bThe Importance of Being Earnest 1952 Classic cWonder Boys CEvolution CMiller’s Crossing B-1HG Wells Time Machine bTreasure of the Sierra Madre AOn Trip A Serious Man bJack Everlasting bThe Thin Man bThe Omega Man cBlack Dahlia bThe African Queen AAs I Lay Dying cState and Main 2000 cSpy 2015 bWedding Crashers bhers 2 cCriminal Activities bOn Trip The Graduate ALove Story AThe Eye in the Sky APicture Perfect BThe Imitation Game BGet the Gringo CSurvivor 2015 BVietgone Play OSF A Super bad bHitman cIn the Tropics Abbot and Costello cKept Women 2015 Lifeline movie cLincoln Lawyer bBad Boys 11 b (TBS)Hawaii Five O b + Grace Park is hot (TBS)Bad Boys 11 b –(TBS)The Pacifier B (TBS)The Mummy (TBS) cI am Number Four (TBS) cIdentity Theft TBS bLife, Adjusted -documentary premier AUndercover Wife (TV) cThe Money Monster theater in Ashland bThe Good Guys in Medford C too late Holliday TBS bI am Watching You (lifeline movie) DBow finger 1990 TBS bEuropean Vacation TBS bThe Green Hornet FX cIron Man 11 cPercy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters b -The Hulk b- X-Men: Apocalypse b-Maid in Manhattan TNT bReds 2 TNT 2 CGran Torino TBS AThe Choice Redbox C The Fifth Wave redbox BJoy B RedboxThe Best of Me Naval Base AWinter Tale Naval Base BThe Fault in Our Stars – Naval base AX Men First Stand Naval Base BCaptain America First Avenger Naval Base BHard Luck AFB BThe Cooler AFB BEarth Sea AFB CArtificial Intelligence AFB ALeap of Faith AFB BDCThe Revenant Belvoir a The Hateful Eight Belvoir bOn PlaneMidnight Special B Whisky Tango Foxtrot BAbsolutely Everything BDeadpool C part of x men franchiseBeauty Inside Korean movie ATalvar Guilty Bollywood movie AKorea Green Lantern Netflix cThe Darkest Hour Netflix bStranger Things Netflic original series bBands of Robbers netflic bLooks Whose Back netflic c The Covenant Netflic bSecret Life of Pets Theater with JS a Unidentified YS DStar Gate Continuum YS b High Plains Drifter YS BGoya’s Ghosts YS BStar Trek Beyond In Sinchon with Jeremy S AThe Assassination of Jessie James YS BThe Return of the Magnificent Seven YS BShiri – will watch in Korean with English subtitles YS ABabylon Five – The Gathering YS BBabylon Five – In the Beginning YS BThe Outlaw Josey Wells YS AGhostbusters in Sinchon with Jeremy S AStranger Things – Netflix original series AThe Orphan Black (BBC mini-series) ASynchronicity (Netflix) BThe 100 (mini series on netflic) B will finish Shutter Island Netflix bBlack Mirror Netflix bLathe of Heaven YS CJourney to Center of Earth (earlier classic with Peter Fonda) YS CThe DeviceYS DBig Muddy YS CGood For Nothing YS BU Turn Indian movie – Netflix B Indian Movie Blood Simple YS c did not finish it Project Almanac YS bDune YS bDinotopia YS bJourney to Center of the Earth YS bHG Wells First Men in the Moon YS cSilverado YSThe Hidden YS bThe Island of Dr. Moreau YS cDark City YSTrue Memoirs of an International Assassin Netflix Original bTower Heist 2011 Neflix BAmerican Ultra Netflix BMotel Life CThe Man From the Future (Brazilian Film) B Continuum SF Series Netflix BAlien Arising YS CAlice the Darker Side of the Mirror YS CBrother Grimm YS BVictor Frankenstein YS BDragon Day YS C Compadres YSTerminator Genesis YSYear In SFCompadres?(film)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaCompadresAmerican theatrical release posterDirected byEnrique BegneProduced byFrancisco González CompeánBen OdellWritten byEnrique BegneTed PerkinsGabriel RipsteinStarringOmar ChaparroJoey MorganMusic byJoan ValentCinematographyFederico BarbabosaEdited byJorge MacayaProductioncompanyDraco FilmsDistributed byVideocine S.A. de C.V.Release dates31?March?2016?(Mexico)22?April?2016?(U.S.)Running time102 minutes[1]CountryMexicoLanguageEnglishSpanishBudget$3 million[2]Box office$7.4 million[2]Compadres?is a 2016 Mexican?action comedy?film directed by Enrique Begne and co-written with Ted Perkins and Gabriel Ripstein. The film stars?Omar Chaparro?and Joey Morgan as the title roles.?Erick Elías,?Aislinn Derbez,?Héctor Jimenez,?Eric Roberts, and?Kevin Pollak?appear in supporting roles.The film was released on 31 March 2016 in Mexico and on 22 April 2016 in the United States.Contents??[hide]?1Plot2Cast3Release3.1Box office3.2Critical reception4References5External linksPlot[edit]After being released from prison, former?Mexican cop?GARZA (Omar Chaparro) seeks revenge on SANTOS (Erick Elias). Santos has kidnapped his girlfriend MARIA (Aislinn Derbez) and framed him for a crime he didn't commit. With the help of his former boss CORONADO (José Sefami), Garza manages to escape with a tip about how to find Santos which leads him to San Diego in search of an "accountant." This said accountant is responsible for stealing $10 million dollars from Santos and may know Santos' whereabouts. When Garza arrives, he is shocked to find that the infamous accountant is a 17 year old white American computer hacker named VIC (Joey Morgan). Despite an immediate disdain for each other, these two divided by culture, language and age, realize that Garza's low tech brain and Vic's high tech hacker skills may be their only chance at finding Santos before he finds them. The movie stars Omar Chaparro, one of Mexico's and the US Hispanic's biggest comedians and Aislinn Derbez; a rising star and Eugenio Derbez's daughter.Cast[edit]Omar Chaparro?as GarzaJoey Morgan as VicEric Roberts?as DaltonErick Elías?as SantosAislinn Derbez?as MaríaHéctor Jiménez?as GausaKevin Pollak?as Tex the BankerCamila Sodi?as EmiliaEvan Henderson as Dalton's PartnerJoaquín CosíoEfren Ramirez?as El PayasRelease[edit]Box office[edit]Compadres?opened theatrically in the United States from?Pantelion Films?on 22 April 2016 in 368 venues and earned $1,397,434 in its opening weekend, ranking ninth in the North American box office and second among the new releases.[3]?In Mexico, the film was released on 31 March and, as of 17 April, had grossed $4,225,771, bringing the film's worldwide total to $5,623,205.[4]Critical reception[edit]The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics. On?Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 33% approval score based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10.[5]?Metacritic?reports a 28 out of 100 rating based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6]Terminator GenisysFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaTerminator GenisysTheatrical release posterDirected byAlan TaylorProduced byDavid EllisonDana GoldbergWritten byLaeta KalogridisPatrick LussierBased onCharactersby?James CameronGale Anne HurdStarringArnold SchwarzeneggerJason ClarkeEmilia ClarkeJai CourtneyJ. K. SimmonsDayo OkeniyiMatt SmithCourtney B. VanceLee Byung-hunMusic byLorne BalfeCinematographyKramer MorgenthauEdited byRoger BartonProductioncompanySkydance ProductionsDistributed byParamount PicturesRelease datesJune?22,?2015(Berlin premiere)July?1,?2015?(United States)Running time126 minutes[1]CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$155 million[2]Box office$440.6 million[3]Terminator Genisys?is a 2015 American?science fiction film?directed by?Alan Taylor?and written by?Laeta Kalogridis?and?Patrick Lussier. The fifth installment in the?Terminator?franchise, following?Terminator Salvation?(2009), the film stars?Arnold Schwarzenegger?(reprising his role as the?eponymous character),?Jason Clarke,?Emilia Clarke?and?Jai Courtney. The plot follows soldier?Kyle Reese?in the war against?Skynet; Kyle is sent from the year 2029 to 1984 by?John Connor, leader of the Human Resistance, to protect Connor's mother?Sarah. When Kyle arrives in the past, he discovers that?the timeline has been altered?and Sarah has been raised by a reprogrammed Terminator.Megan Ellison?and her production company,?Annapurna Pictures, acquired the franchise rights in May 2011. The following year, production of another installment in the series was set up in collaboration with?Skydance Productions?(owned by Ellison's brother,?David). The Ellisons consulted?Terminator?creator?James Cameron?in the hope of returning to the spirit of the original film and its sequel,?Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Principal photography was primarily in?New Orleans, with some in the on-screen setting of?San Francisco. Six companies handled the film's?visual effects; its prosthetic make-up and animatronics were created by?Legacy Effects, a studio founded by 'Terminator?veteran?Stan Winston.The film was released by?Paramount Pictures?on July 1, 2015, in standard digital format,?RealD 3D, and?IMAX 3D.?Terminator Genisys?was not well-received by critics, who found the story and performances unsatisfactory, although Schwarzenegger's return to the franchise was praised. It grossed over $440 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of the franchise and Schwarzenegger's career (after?Terminator 2: Judgment Day).Contents??[hide]?1Plot2Cast3Production3.1Development3.2Casting3.3Screenplay3.4Filming3.5Visual effects4Music4.1Soundtrack5Release5.1Marketing5.2Home media6Reception6.1Box office6.1.1North America6.1.2Outside North America6.2Critical response6.3Nominations7Planned sequels and spin-off television series8Notes9References10External linksPlot[edit]Human Resistance leader?John Connor?(Jason Clarke) launches a final offensive against?Skynet, an?artificial general intelligence?system seeking to eliminate the human race, in 2029. Before the Resistance can triumph, Skynet activates a?time machine?and sends a?T-800 (Model 101) Terminator?back to May 12, 1984 to kill John's mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke). John's right-hand man,?Kyle Reese?(Jai Courtney), volunteers to travel back in time to protect her. As Kyle floats in the machine's magnetic field, he sees John being attacked by another Resistance soldier (Matt Smith) and has visions from his childhood about Sarah Connor from 2017.When it arrives in 1984, Skynet's T-800 is disabled by Sarah and its reprogrammed doppelg?nger sent to protect her when she was nine years old, nicknamed "Pops" (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Kyle arrives a short time later, and is almost immediately attacked by a?T-1000?(Lee Byung-hun). Sarah and Pops join Kyle and destroy the T-1000 with acid; she and Pops reveal that they have constructed a makeshift time machine similar to Skynet's, and Sarah plans to travel to 1997 (the year Skynet becomes self-aware). Realizing that the timeline has been altered, Kyle is convinced that the future has changed because of the warning he received in his childhood vision and persuades Sarah to travel to 2017 to stop Skynet.Kyle and Sarah arrive on August 28, 2017, materialize in the middle of a busy?San Francisco?highway and are apprehended by?city police. While they are treated for injuries, Sarah and Kyle learn that Skynet is called "Genisys" (a soon-to-be-unveiled global?operating system?which is embraced by the public). John Connor appears and rescues Sarah and Kyle; Pops then appears and shoots John, revealing that John is an advanced?T-3000?Terminator. While Kyle was traveling back in time a?T-5000?(Smith), the physical embodiment of Skynet disguised as a member of the Resistance, attacked John and transformed him into a?nanocyte?infiltrator. John, tasked with ensuring?Cyberdyne Systems'?survival, traveled back in time to assist them with the development of Genisys and thus safeguarding Skynet and its machines' rise.A day before Skynet's worldwide attack, Sarah, Kyle, and Pops escape to a?safe house?and make final preparations to destroy Cyberdyne's Genisys mainframe. They head toward Cyberdyne's headquarters with the T-3000 in close pursuit. During an airborne chase, Pops dive-bombs into the T-3000's helicopter and causes it to crash. The T-3000 survives the crash and enters the Cyberdyne complex, where it advances the countdown from 13 hours to 15 minutes. Kyle, Sarah and Pops plant bombs at key points in the facility while holding off the T-3000.In a final battle, Pops traps the T-3000 in the magnetic field of a prototypical time machine. Both are destroyed, but just before the explosion the T-3000 throws the remains of Pops into a nearby experimental vat of?mimetic polyalloy. Kyle and Sarah reach a bunker beneath the facility and the explosion sets off the bombs, preventing Genisys from coming online. Pops appears, upgraded with mimetic polyalloy components similar to that of the T-1000, and helps them escape from the debris.The trio travels to Kyle's childhood home, where Kyle tells his younger self about Genisys and instructs him to repeat the warning in a mirror – critical insurance that the events lead to their arrival in 2017. Sarah, Kyle and Pops drive off into the countryside. A?mid-credits scene?reveals that the system core of Genisys, located in a protected subterranean chamber, has survived the explosion.Cast[edit]Arnold Schwarzenegger?as?"Pops", a reprogrammed T-800 (Model 101) Terminator and Sarah Connor's mentor/guardian.Brett Azar stood-in on-set as the body double for the Young Pops in 1973, and the T-800 Terminator from the?first film?who time-traveled to 1984.[4]Jai Courtney?as?Kyle Reese, a Resistance soldier and John Connor's protégé. He is destined to be John Connor's father.Bryant Prince as Young KyleEmilia Clarke?as?Sarah Connor, Pops' protégée and destined to be John Connor's mother.[5][nb 1]Willa Taylor as Young SarahJason Clarke?as?John Connor, leader of the Resistance who is turned into a nanorobotic prototypical?T-3000?Terminator composed of machine phase matter[7]J. K. Simmons?as O'Brien, an alcoholic police detective from the?San Francisco Police Department?who investigates Terminators and time travelers[8]Wayne Bastrup?as Young O'Brien, a LAPD beat cop[9]Dayo Okeniyi?as Danny Dyson, son of Miles Dyson and Cyberdyne Systems' presidentMatt Smith?as "Alex", an advanced T-5000 Terminator who embodies Skynet. Alex's appearance is also used by Skynet as a holographic avatar in 2017.[10][11][12]Ian Etheridge as Skynet, age 10Nolan Gross as Skynet, age 12–14Seth Meriwether as Skynet, age 18Courtney B. Vance?as Miles Dyson, Cyberdyne Systems' CEOByung Hun Lee?as?Cop / T-1000, a shapeshifting prototypical Terminator composed of mimetic polyalloy[13]Michael Gladis?as Lieutenant Matias, a SFPD police lieutenant and O'Brien's superiorSandrine Holt?as Detective Cheung, a SFPD police detective and O'Brien's colleagueProduction[edit]Development[edit]Although?Terminator Salvation?was intended to begin a new?trilogy, the production of a fifth film was put on hold because of legal issues with franchise owner?the Halcyon Company?(which filed for?Chapter 11?bankruptcy in August 2009).[14][15][16]?To avoid bankruptcy, Halcyon later decided to sell the rights to the franchise and valued the property at $70 million.[17][18]?On February 8, 2010 the franchise was auctioned for $29.5 million to Pacificor, a hedge fund which was the largest creditor in Halcyon's bankruptcy proceedings.[19][20]?The deal erased Halcyon's debts to Pacificor and guaranteed Halcyon $5 million for each additional Terminator sequel produced, to pay other outstanding debts.[19][21]?Pacificor sold the franchise again in May 2010.[22]In August of that year,?Hannover House?announced plans to develop a 3D animated film entitled?Terminator 3000.[23]?Pacificor responded with a?cease and desist?letter, declining a $20–30?million offer from Hannover for the rights to produce the film.[23]?In February 2011?Universal Studios?considered investing in a fifth?Terminator?film with Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to the title role,?Fast & Furious?director?Justin Lin?at the helm and?Chris Morgan?as the screenwriter.[24]?In late April 2011 a proposed?Terminator?package, dropping Morgan and adding producer?Robert W. Cort, was presented to?Universal Studios,?Sony,?Lionsgate?and?CBS Films.[25]It was eventually picked up by?Megan Ellison?and her production company,?Annapurna Pictures, in May 2011 after they purchased at auction the rights to make at least two more?Terminator?films (including?Terminator 5).[26]?The deal was finalized on December 4, 2012, and the final price was reportedly less than the auction pledge because new copyright laws had raised concerns that the rights would revert to?James Cameron?in 2019. Ellison's brother?David?and others from his?Skydance Productions?agreed to co-produce the film.[27][28]?Director Justin Lin had to leave the project because of his involvement in?Fast & Furious 6.[29]Two screenwriters,?Laeta Kalogridis?of?Shutter Island?and?Patrick Lussier?of?Drive Angry, were commissioned to write the screenplay in January 2013.[28]?Kalogridis and Lussier initially turned down the project three times, but were persuaded to write the screenplay by James Cameron.[30]Paramount Pictures?(which has a financing and distribution deal with Skydance) was confirmed as the distributor in June 2013, when they and the producers announced a release date of June 26, 2015.[31]?Rian Johnson,?Denis Villeneuve?and?Ang Lee?were approached to take over direction from Lin, but?Thor: The Dark World?director?Alan Taylor?was selected in September 2013.[32][33]?In January 2014, Megan Ellison announced that her production company was no longer financing the film; Skydance and Paramount would provide funding, and Ellison would be credited as an executive producer.[34][35]After acquiring the rights to the franchise, Megan Ellison asked James Cameron for input on the new film. Cameron later met several times with David Ellison, where they discussed Schwarzenegger's role and how to remain true to the T-800 character.[36]?On August 6, 2014, Schwarzenegger posted a picture on his?Twitter?account of himself in a production chair on set. The picture indicated the correct spelling of the film's title:?Terminator Genisys.[37]Casting[edit]On June 13, 2013, Schwarzenegger said that he would return for his fourth film as the Terminator.[38]?By early November,?Garrett Hedlund?and?Tom Hardy?were under consideration for the role of Kyle Reese.[39]?That month the choice for Sarah Connor was narrowed to?Emilia Clarke,?Tatiana Maslany?and?Brie Larson,[40]?and Clarke was selected in December.[41]?That month,?Jason Clarke?began negotiations to play John Connor.[42]?In February 2014 the studio considered?Jai Courtney?and?Boyd Holbrook?as Reese,[43]?and later that month Courtney was confirmed for the role.[44]?J. K. Simmons?began talks for the role of Detective O'Brien in March.[8]?According to late-March announcements,?Dayo Okeniyi?would play Danny Dyson[45]?and?Lee Byung-hun,?Michael Gladis?and?Sandrine Holt?joined the cast (Lee in a lead role).[46]?Matt Smith?joined the cast in May,[47]?as did?Douglas Smith?in June.[48]Screenplay[edit]Laeta Kalogridis?and?Patrick Lussier?were invited to write the script while they worked on another project with David Ellison and Dana Goldberg. They agreed to write a?Terminator?film when James Cameron, a friend of Kalogridis who worked with her in?Avatar, gave it his blessing. The starting point of the script was to retain Schwarzenegger as a central character, unlike the?Star Trek?reboot with?Leonard Nimoy?as an older?Spock?in a minor role. They had to write in the actor (now 67 years old), and followed a suggestion by Cameron that the Terminator's living-tissue exterior was vulnerable to?aging?and their idea of Skynet sending a Terminator after an infant Sarah Connor. Kalogridis and Lussier extended this to the core characters of Kyle, Sarah, and John Connor, despite each being from a different time period. Although the writers reportedly enjoyed?Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, they opted to escape its suggestion that Judgment Day is inevitable because of a?causal loop?in favor of all?Terminator?timelines existing simultaneously in a?multiverse. To map out the timelines and plot, Kalogridis and Lussier had five?whiteboards?"covering every wall in the office". They eventually reached a central plot thread in which the Skynet of one universe, defeated in several timelines, sent the T-5000 to the?Genisys?timeline hoping to defeat the humans by "having the best weapon that humans have": John Connor. The first draft of the screenplay, to attract a director, was delivered in July 2013.[28][49][50]Filming[edit]Principal photography?began on April 21, 2014 in?New Orleans?and ended on August 6 in?San Francisco.[51][52][53]?The?Oracle Corporation?headquarters in?Redwood City?was the exterior of Cyberdyne; Oracle was founded by the Ellisons' father,?Larry.[54][55]?Legacy Effects, successor to?Stan Winston Studio, created the Terminator?robotic?and?make-up?effects led by?John Rosengrant?(who worked on the previous four?Terminator?films).?Jeff Dawn, lead make-up artist for the first three installments, did not return.[56][57]The production tried to match the cinematography of the first two?Terminator?films. Scenes set in 1984 favored blue, green and black tones to match the look of?The Terminator, and those set during the future war against the machines were modeled after similar scenes in?Terminator 2: Judgment Day.[58]Visual effects[edit]Visual-effects supervisor Janek Sirrs oversaw approximately 1,200 visual-effects shots generated at?Double Negative,?Moving Picture Company?(MPC),?Industrial Light & Magic?(ILM), Lola VFX, One of Us and?Method Studios.[59][60]?Double Negative was the lead company, with 900 shots which included the T-1000, T-5000 and T-3000 Terminators, the helicopter and bus-chase scenes and the Cyberdyne explosion. The complexity of the T-3000, which had to be shown as a living mass of?nanomites?with the ability to transform in successive layers, required as much as 20 hours to?render?a single frame. The mechanical cells aimed to resemble the material on?stealth aircraft, with a result described as "more?matte?than metal" and resembling a slightly-iridescent?ceramic carbon. Since the T-3000 was a man transformed into a robot, the design aimed for a human shape streamlined for better combat efficiency. The T-1000 was built from?fluid simulations, their environments filmed with high-resolution cameras to ensure proper reflection. Its acid destruction was realistically depicted after studies of acids burning aluminum ingots and other metal. Double Negative's artists shot many reference plates of San Francisco, including scans of the?Golden Gate Bridge, to ensure that the city was recreated properly in the bus and helicopter chases.[60][61]MPC's most elaborate effect was the digital recreation of the original Terminator, which required 12 months for 35 shots (completed 30 minutes before the final print was submitted to the studio).?Performance capture?was used only for facial animation, since Schwarzenegger was scanned reading his lines. The studio's artists studied archive footage of the actor, focusing mainly on?The Terminator?and?Pumping Iron, and were given a 1984?plaster cast?of him. On set, the fight between both Terminators had Schwarzenegger and Brett Azar (a bodybuilder chosen for his resemblance to the actor in 1984) and, in more dangerous scenes, Azar and a stunt double—requiring effects artists to replace the face of Pops.[62][63]?MPC also handled the future battle, with set extensions and Skynet robots and vehicles based on models by?Legacy Effects. Industrial Light & Magic did the opening scene in which San Francisco is wiped out on Judgement Day, inspired by the Los Angeles nuclear destruction in?Terminator 2, and the Terminator vision.[60]?For the IMAX 3D release, the film was remastered with?IMAX DMR?technology to create 3D effects and a high-resolution film print.[64]Music[edit]Terminator Genisys: Music from the Motion PictureFilm score?(digital audio) by?Lorne Balfe (except bonus track)ReleasedJune 24, 2015GenreSoundtrackLength75:03LabelSkydanceProducerHans Zimmer?(executive)Lorne Balfe?composed the film's score.[65]?Balfe aimed to create a soundtrack which stood in its own, since?Terminator Genisys?is "not a prequel and not a sequel", incorporating?Brad Fiedel's iconic theme in?The Terminator: "have a nod to the past but also bring it into the future."[66]?Chinese?pop singer?Jane Zhang?and?hip hop?artist?Big Sean?contributed "Fighting Shadows", released by?Def Jam Recordings?on June 30, 2015, as a soundtrack bonus track.[67][68]?The track is Zhang's first English-language recording and Big Sean’s musical feature-film debut.[69]?A music video of the single, produced and directed by Robby Starbuck, included footage from the film.[70]?The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated",?OneRepublic's "Love Runs Out" and?Inner Circle's "Bad Boys" are heard in the film but not included in the soundtrack.[71]Soundtrack[edit]All music composed by Lorne Balfe, except the bonus track.[show]Terminator Genisys: Music from the Motion PictureRelease[edit]Terminator Genisys?premiered at the?Dolby Theatre?in Hollywood on June 28, 2015.[72]?The film was first released in ten markets on June 25; the following week, it was released in 35 countries (including the United States)[73]?in regular,?RealD 3D?and?IMAX 3D?formats.[74]?On July 26 the film was playing in 64 countries outside North America,[75]?and was released in China on August 23, 2015.[76]Marketing[edit]On December 2, 2014 Paramount released the film's first motion poster, showing a T-800 disintegrating into dust before the logo appeared. A preview trailer was released the following day, with brief clips from the film accompanied by "I'd Love to Change the World" by?Jetta. Differing from past?Terminator?releases, the preview had forced-looking camera motion in aerial-effect scenes and a first look at the?color grading?used to evoke the look of past films. The full trailer debuted on December 4.[77]?A second trailer (released In April 2015) was noted for?spoiling?the scene in which John Connor becomes a Terminator,[78]?a decision criticized by Alan Taylor and the writers.[28][79]WWE's March 29, 2015?WrestleMania 31?promoted the film with an elaborate entrance stage for?Triple H?in his match with?Sting. On the stage, Triple H donning a Terminator outfit and a video played of Schwarzenegger saying: "Judgment Day is here. It's time to play the game."[80]?Several brands were promotional partners.[81]On June 14, Schwarzenegger visited?Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton?for an advance screening of?Terminator Genisys.[82]?Two days later,?Waze?added Schwarzenegger's Terminator voice as a voice-navigation option.[83]?On June 19, he and Emilia Clarke appeared on?The Graham Norton Show?to promote the film.[84]?Schwarzenegger released a video that day of himself walking around Hollywood dressed as the Terminator and posing as a wax model at?Madame Tussauds Hollywood. The video promoted a fundraising contest to benefit the?After-School All-Stars?which would bring selected donors to the?Terminator Genisys?premiere.[85]Several?YouTubers?appeared with Schwarzenegger in a?YouTube?miniseries,?Terminator Genisys: The YouTube Chronicles, produced by Heresy and released on June 22.[86]?Consisting of videos uploaded by?Machinima,?Toby Turner?and?Lilly Singh, the series also included?Olga Kay,?Sean Klitzner,?Lloyd Ahlquist?and?Matthew Santoro.[87]?On June 24 Schwarzenegger spoke to attendees of an early fan screening of the movie in?New York City?(announced on?Reddit), which was followed by an interview and selfie session.[88]Home media[edit]The film was released for?digital download?on October 20, 2015, and was released by Paramount Home Entertainment on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on November 10.?Terminator Genisys?debuted as the bestselling?Blu-ray?and the most-rented film of the week, and was second in overall home-video sales to?Inside Out.[89]?It has grossed over $25.1 million in total domestic video sales, bringing the film's gross to $465.3 million.[90]Reception[edit]Box office[edit]Terminator Genisys?grossed $89.7 million in North America and $350.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $440.2 million.[3]?Of the?Terminator?franchise, only?Terminator 2: Judgment Day?earned more at the box office.[91][92]?Because of its $155 million production budget and an estimated $50–100 million spent on marketing,?Bloomberg Business?reported that the film would have needed to earn at least $450 million in its theatrical run to break even.[93]?In August 2015?Forbes?cited?Terminator Genisys?as the first American film to earn $400 million worldwide without grossing $100 million in North America, earnings comparable to the French film?The Intouchables.[94]?It was the first Hollywood release to earn $100 million in China and less than that in North America; both were duplicated the following summer by?Warcraft.[95]North America[edit]The film opened on July 1, 2015 in the United States and Canada (the same day as the comedy-drama?Magic Mike XXL) in 3,700 theaters, and previewed the previous evening in 2,527 theaters. The two films and the holdovers?Jurassic World?and?Inside Out?were each projected to earn $45–55 million during the?Independence Day?holiday period and $27–30 million over the three-day weekend.[96]Box-office analysts noted that?Terminator Genisys?would have to compete with?Jurassic World?and, to some extent,?Ted 2?for male moviegoers. They expected the film to have the upper hand, replacing?Jurassic World?in?IMAX?theaters, but good earnings were needed overseas to make up any deficits.[2]?It made $2.3 million from the Tuesday-night preview – a record for Paramount Pictures, surpassing the $2.1 million earned by?Hercules?(2014) – and $8.9 million on its Wednesday opening day.[97][98][99]?The film earned $42.4 million over the five-day opening stretch, including $27 million from 3,758 theaters over the weekend, placing it third at the box office behind?Jurassic World?and?Inside Out.[100]?Scott Mendelson of?Forbes?suggested several possible explanations for its box-office performance: poor marketing, negative reviews, competition from the family-friendly?Jurassic World?and?Inside Out, the decline of Schwarzenegger's star power and American indifference to another?Terminator?film.[101]Outside North America[edit]During the weekend of August 2, 2015,?Terminator Genisys?was playing in 65 countries (including the U.S. and Canada); the film was released in China on August 23.[102]?Comparisons of overseas box-office performance were made with Paramount's?Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol?(2011),?Pacific Rim,?Lucy?and?World War Z?rather than the preceding?Terminator Salvation?(2009) and the other?Terminator?films.[103][104][105]?The film was released in ten countries before its North American debut beginning on June 25, earning $8.4 million over its opening weekend.[106]?During its second weekend it expanded to 46 countries, earning $73.3 million and topping the international box office[107]?before being passed by?Minions?the following weekend.[105]?The film led in box-office receipts outside North America for four non-consecutive weekends.[108][109]Terminator Genisys?had the franchise's biggest opening and Schwarzenegger's best in Singapore ($1.4 million) and Colombia ($1.3 million); both exceeded the opening of?Terminator Salvation?and that of 28 other countries, including Russia, Korea and Mexico.[107]?The film topped the box office in Peru, Vietnam, Turkey and 28 other countries,[106][107]?was Paramount's biggest Argentine opening ($2.3 million),[105]?and was the biggest July opening and the fifth-biggest of all time in Russia and the CIS ($12.5 million).[107]?In the UK and Brazil it opened behind?Minions, earning $5.8 million and $3.9 million respectively, and was second in France to?Les Profs 2?with $3.8 million.[107]?Other notable openings were in South Korea ($11.2 million), Mexico ($6.1 million), Japan ($5.4 million), Australia ($4.4 million), Germany ($3.1 million) and India ($3 million).[105][107]?Its largest markets outside the U.S. and Canada were South Korea ($23.5 million), Russia ($21.8 million), Japan ($19 million) the UK ($16.1 million) and Brazil ($11.1 million).[75][110]?Terminator Genisys?earned $2.2 million from Chinese midnight showings (the fourth-largest of all time) and $27.4 million on its opening day, the fourth-biggest opening day of all time for a Hollywood film (behind?Furious 7,?Avengers: Age of Ultron?and?Transformers: Age of Extinction). It topped the international box office with a one-day gross from China.[111]?The film earned $82.8 million in its eight-day opening week (Sunday to Sunday), $58 million from Monday to Sunday and $23.4 million in its three-day opening weekend (Friday to Sunday).[108][112]?Rob Cain of?Forbes?attributed the successful opening in China to Schwarzenegger's popularity, audience appetite for films with robots, disasters and machines and its being the first Hollywood film released after a 60-day blackout of non-Chinese films.[113]?As of September 12, 2015,?Terminator Genisys?had grossed $112.8 million in China.[114][115]Critical response[edit]The?Los Angeles Times?said critics found the film to be a "messy sequel" that was a "convoluted retread" of past films.[116]?According to?TheWrap, critics found the time travel storyline to be "convoluted" and that the performances were "unremarkable" aside from Schwarzenegger reprising his role.[117]?Review aggregator?Rotten Tomatoes?reports an approval rating of 25%, based on 232 reviews, with an?average rating?of 4.7 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Mired in its muddled mythology, Terminator: Genisys is a lurching retread that lacks the thematic depth, conceptual intelligence, or visual thrills that launched this once-mighty franchise".[118]?On?Metacritic, which assigns a?weighted average?to critic reviews, the film has a score of 38 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[119]?Audiences polled by?CinemaScore?gave the film an average grade of B+, based on a scale that ranges from A+ to F.[120]Joe Morgenstern of?The Wall Street Journal?criticized the film, saying that it "plays like the worst of all outcomes".[121]?James Rocchi of TheWrap compared it negatively to?The Terminator, writing that?Genisys?"comes back from the past to water down a whole season of summer moviegoing".[122]?Michael Phillips of the?Chicago Tribune?criticized the film's lack of originality, calling it "simply business and dull business at that".[123]After seeing a pre-release screening of the film, James Cameron voiced his support for?Terminator Genisys. Describing it as respectful to the first two films, Cameron said he felt like "the franchise has been reinvigorated".[124]?Michael O'Sullivan of?The Washington Post?enjoyed the film: "Genisys?goes back to what made the franchise work in the first place: not the machine inside the man, but vice versa".[125]?Richard Lawson of?Vanity Fair?also gave a positive review, writing that the film "makes a surprisingly compelling case" for itself.[126]?Mark Hughes of?Forbes?called many of the negative reviews a result of "cynical nostalgia" which "distrusts change and anticipates failure", calling the review-aggregator ratings "ridiculously and undeservedly low".[127]Nominations[edit]AwardCategoryRecipientResultRef(s)Golden Schmoes AwardsWorst Movie of the YearNominated[128]Biggest Disappointment of the YearNominatedJupiter AwardsBest International ActressEmilia ClarkeNominatedSaturn AwardsBest Science Fiction FilmNominated[129]Teen Choice AwardsChoice Summer MovieNominated[130]Choice Summer Movie Star: FemaleEmilia ClarkeNominatedPlanned sequels and spin-off television series[edit]In December 2013,?The Hollywood Reporter?reported that a television series was in the works which would tie into a new?Terminator?trilogy.[131][132]?On September 5, 2014 Paramount announced that?Terminator Genisys?would be the first film in a new stand-alone trilogy, with two sequels scheduled for release on May 19, 2017 and June 29, 2018.[133][134]?On February 24, 2015, Schwarzenegger confirmed that he would return for the first sequel.[135]?While promoting?Genisys?in Berlin in June 2015, Skydance CEO David Ellison and COO Dana Goldberg said that the spin-off TV series was still in development.[136]?On July 26,?The Hollywood Reporter?said that Paramount and Skydance declined to comment about the status of the sequel and TV series, although they confirmed that international box-office performance would be taken into consideration.[137]?Deadline?reported on September 22 that the film failed to earn the required $150 million in China to fast-track a sequel.[138]On October 1,?The Hollywood Reporter?said that the sequels and television spin-off were on hold indefinitely because?Terminator Genisys?failed to break even.[139]?About the franchise's future, Goldberg said on October 6 that she "wouldn’t say [it's] on hold, so much as re-adjusting". According to Goldberg, despite?Genisys'?disappointing domestic performance the company was happy with its worldwide numbers and still intended to make new films and the TV series. Production of a sequel would begin no earlier than 2016 because the company planned market research to determine its direction after?Genisys.[140]In January 2016, Paramount announced that the sequel had been removed from its release schedule.[141]?According to Schwarzenegger, a sixth film will still happen.[142]?In April, Emilia Clarke said that she would not return for any sequels.[143]Victor Frankenstein?(film)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaVictor FrankensteinTheatrical release posterDirected byPaul McGuiganProduced byJohn DavisWritten byMax LandisBased onFrankensteinby?Mary ShelleyStarringJames McAvoyDaniel RadcliffeJessica Brown FindlayAndrew ScottCharles DanceMusic byCraig ArmstrongCinematographyFabian WagnerEdited byAndrew HulmeProductioncompaniesDavis Entertainment CompanyTSG EntertainmentDistributed by20th Century FoxRelease datesNovember?11,?2015(Los Angeles premiere)November?25,?2015(United States)Running time110 minutes[1]CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$40 million[2]Box office$34.2 million[3]Victor Frankenstein?is a 2015 American?science fiction?fantasy?horror?film based on contemporary adaptations of?Mary Shelley's 1818 novel?Frankenstein. It is directed by?Paul McGuigan?and written by?Max Landis. Starring?James McAvoy?as?the title character?and?Daniel Radcliffe?as?Igor, the film was released by?20th Century Fox?on November 25, 2015.Told from Igor's perspective, it shows the troubled young assistant's dark origins and his redemptive friendship with the young medical student, Victor Frankenstein. Through Igor's eyes, the audience witnesses the emergence of Frankenstein as the man from the legend we know today. Eventually, their experiments get them into trouble with the authorities, and Dr. Frankenstein and Igor become fugitives as they complete their goals to use science as a way to create life from death.[4]?The film received generally negative reviews and became a?box office bomb, grossing $34.2 million against a budget of $40 million.Contents??[hide]?1Plot2Cast3Production4Marketing5Reception5.1Box office5.2Critical response6See also7References8External linksPlot[edit]In?London, ambitious medical student Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) attends a circus performance, where he helps save an injured aerialist, Lorelei (Jessica Brown Findlay), by aid of a nameless hunchback (Daniel Radcliffe) enslaved by the circus' ringleader, and who harbors feelings for the girl. Impressed by the hunchback's vast knowledge of human anatomy, acquired from stolen books, Victor rescues him, drains the cyst on his back that causes his physical abnormality and develops a harness to improve his posture, and then names him "Igor" after a recently deceased roommate. The two then become partners in Victor's ongoing experiments to create life through artificial means, incurring the wrath of religious police inspector Roderick Turpin (Andrew Scott), who views their experiments as sinful.After Igor suggests they use electricity to animate their creations, Victor procures parts from dead animals and creates a monstrous chimpanzee-esque creature nicknamed "Gordon". Meanwhile, Igor reunites with Lorelei, now masquerading as the mistress of a closeted homosexual baron, and the two develop an affair, upsetting Victor, who views Lorelei as a distraction. Igor invites Lorelei to a demonstration of their experiment, which goes awry when Gordon escapes and wreaks havoc through the university before being killed by Victor and Igor. Lorelei is horrified by Victor's experiments and urges Igor to dissuade him from pursuing the matter further, but Igor is reluctant to do so upon learning that Victor is driven by the need to atone for his indirect role in the death of his older brother, Henry, for which Victor's domineering father, Mr. Frankenstein (Charles Dance), blames Victor.Victor is expelled from college for his unorthodox methods, and later approached by his wealthy, arrogant classmate Finnegan (Freddie Fox), who wants him to create an artificial humanoid creature. Victor and Igor outline a behemoth being known as "Prometheus", but Igor's deepening relationship with Lorelei soon causes a rift between them. Shortly afterwards, Turpin and his men raid Victor's laboratory, hellbent on destroying his inventions, and during an altercation with Victor, Turpin loses both a hand and one of his eyes, while Victor and Igor are extracted by Finnegan's men and taken to his family's estate in?Scotland, where Finnegan provides them with the necessary funds to build Prometheus. Igor is mistrustful of Finnegan and leaves after having a falling out with Victor. Finnegan later kidnaps and binds him, revealing his plans to kill Victor once Prometheus is complete and weaponize his creation. Igor is then thrown into the?River Thames?to drown, but manages to escape and reunites with Lorelei, who nurses him back to health.Once recovered, Igor returns to Finnegan's estate with Lorelei in tow in order to rescue Victor, and finds Victor on the verge of using lightning to animate Prometheus. He ignores Igor's pleas not to and activates the machine. Due to a power surge the machinery overloads however, killing Finnegan. After the ensuing chaos Turpin unexpectedly arrives (after being fired by his superior for not having a search warrant), blaming and threatening Victor for his creation, upon which both realise the experiment was a success and Prometheus came to life. Victor shares a brief moment with Prometheus, wherein it becomes clear he was attempting to atone for his part in Henry's death. He is interrupted when Turpin opens fire on Prometheus, who eventually kills Turpin. Realising his efforts were misguided Victor joins forces with Igor to kill Prometheus by stabbing its two hearts.After regaining consciousness the next morning, Igor reunites with Lorelei, who hands him a letter written to him by Victor, in which Victor apologizes for all the suffering he caused and recognizes Igor was his "greatest creation". Victor retreats to the Scottish countryside in search of new discoveries.Cast[edit]James McAvoy?as Doctor?Victor Frankenstein[5]Daniel Radcliffe?as?Igor Straussman[5]Jessica Brown Findlay?as Lorelei[6]Andrew Scott?as Roderick Turpin[7]Charles Dance?as Baron FrankensteinFreddie Fox?as Finnegan WeylandMark Gatiss?as Dettweiler[8]Callum Turner?as Alistair[9]Daniel Mays?as Barnaby[10]Spencer Wilding?and Guillaume Delaunay as?Frankenstein's monster?aka "Prometheus"[11]Production[edit]The project was first announced by?20th Century Fox?in 2011 with?Max Landis?set to write the script.[12]?Paul McGuigan?was announced as the director in September 2012.[13]?and?Daniel Radcliffe?also began talks to join the film that month: officially joined the cast as Igor in March 2013.[14]?In July 2013,?James McAvoy?joined the cast to play?Victor Frankenstein.[5]?Jessica Brown Findlay?joined that September.[6]In October 2013, the film's release date was delayed from October 17, 2014 to January 16, 2015.[15]?In March 2014, the film was pushed back again to October 2, 2015.[16]?Filming mostly took place in the United Kingdom, with stage filming at?Longcross?and?Twickenham Film Studios?and location shooting at?Chatham Historic Dockyard.[17]?Principal photography?began on November 25, 2013, and ended on March 20, 2014.[18][19]?In June 2015, the film's release date was pushed back from 2 October 2015, to November 25, 2015, which was first assigned to?The Peanuts Movie?and?The Martian.[20]Marketing[edit]The first?trailer?for the film was released by?20th Century Fox?on August 18, 2015.[21]?20th Century Fox sent?Max Landis, the writer of this film, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to appear on the YouTube show Best of the Worst from?Red Letter Media?as viral marketing for this film.[22]Reception[edit]Box office[edit]Victor Frankenstein?grossed $5.8 million in North America and $28.5 million in other territories for a total of $34.2 million, against a budget of $40 million.[3]In North America,?Victor Frankenstein?opened on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 alongside?Creed?and?The Good Dinosaur, as well as the wide releases of?Brooklyn,?Spotlight?and?Trumbo. The film was originally projected to gross $12 million from 2,797 theaters in its first five days, including $6–8 million in its opening weekend.[23]?However, after grossing $175,000 from its Tuesday night screenings and $620,000 on its opening day, five-day projections were lowered to $3–4 million. The film ended up grossing $2.4 million in its opening weekend and $3.4 million over its first five days, breaking the record set by?Won't Back Down?for the lowest opening gross in over 2,500 theaters.[24]Critical response[edit]This section needs expansion.?You can help by?adding to it.?(November 2015)On?Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 24%, based on 124 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's consensus reads, "A re-imagining without the imagining,?Victor Frankenstein?plays at providing a fresh perspective on an oft-told tale, but ultimately offers little of interest that viewers haven't already seen in superior?Frankenstein?films."[25]?On?Metacritic, the film has a score of 36 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[26]?On?CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.[24]Empire Magazine?rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing "Aiming to do for Victor Frankenstein what Guy Richie did for Sherlock Holmes, set in the past but with a playful, postmodern sensibility that zaps new life into Shelley’s 200 year-old Gothic masterpiece."[27]?Total Film?gave the film an average 3 out of 5. "Each murky frame is bursting with grime and clutter... because everything is too busy, too loud, too determined to do what Guy Ritchie and Mark Gatiss have done for Sherlock Holmes. The result is far from monstrous but it's hardly divine, either."[28]See also[edit]List of films featuring Frankenstein's monsterReferences[edit]Jump up^The Brothers Grimm?(film)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaFor other uses, see?Brothers Grimm (disambiguation).The Brothers GrimmTheatrical release posterDirected byTerry GilliamProduced byCharles RovenDaniel BobkerWritten byEhren KrugerStarringMatt DamonHeath LedgerPeter StormareLena HeadeyJonathan PryceMonica BellucciMusic byDario MarianelliCinematographyNewton Thomas SigelEdited byLesley WalkerProductioncompanyMosaic Media GroupDaniel Bobker ProductionsDistributed byDimension FilmsMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer PicturesRelease dates26?August?2005(United States)4?November?2005(United Kingdom)11?November?2005(Czech Republic)Running time118 minutesCountryUnited StatesUnited KingdomCzech RepublicLanguageEnglishFrenchGermanItalianBudget$88 millionBox office$105,316,267The Brothers Grimm?is a 2005?adventure?fantasy film?directed by?Terry Gilliam. The film stars?Matt Damon,?Heath Ledger, and?Lena Headey?in an exaggerated and fictitious portrait of the?Brothers Grimm?as traveling?con-artists?in French-occupied Germany, during the early 19th century. However, the brothers eventually encounter a genuine?fairy tale?curse which requires real courage instead of their usual bogus?exorcisms. Supporting characters are played by?Peter Stormare,?Jonathan Pryce, and?Monica Bellucci.In February 2001,?Ehren Kruger?sold his?spec script?to?Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer?(MGM). With Gilliam's hiring as director, the script was rewritten by Gilliam and?Tony Grisoni, but the?Writers Guild of America?refused to credit them for their work, thus Kruger received sole credit. MGM eventually dropped out as distributor, but decided to co-finance?The Brothers Grimm?with?Dimension Films?and?Summit Entertainment, while Dimension took over distribution duties.The film was shot entirely in the?Czech Republic. Gilliam often had on-set tensions with brothers?Bob?and?Harvey Weinstein, which caused the original theatrical release date to be delayed nearly ten months.?The Brothers Grimm?was finally released on 26 August 2005 with mixed reviews and a $105.3 million box office performance.This also marks Terry Gilliam's first film to receive a PG-13 rating by the MPAA.Contents??[hide]?1Plot2The Brothers3Cast4Production4.1Filming4.2Visual effects5Release5.1Box office5.2Critical reception5.3Home media5.4Legacy6TV series7References8External linksPlot[edit]This article's plot summary?may be?too long?or?excessively detailed.?Please?help improve it?by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise.?(September 2015)?(Learn how and when to remove this template message)Wilhelm Grimm?(Matt Damon) and?Jakob Grimm?(Heath Ledger) arrive in?French-occupied Germany during the early 1800s. They go to?Karlstadt?to rid the town of a witch's ghost. After killing the "ghost", it is revealed that the Brothers Grimm have actually set up a fake witch to trick the town. Afterwards, as they are celebrating, Italian torturer Mercurio Cavaldi (Peter Stormare) takes them to the French General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce).Delatombe forces them to solve a mystery: The girls of the small village of Marbaden are disappearing, and the villagers are convinced that supernatural beings are responsible. The Grimms are charged with finding who is responsible, and they soon discover that it is the work of a real supernatural force: a beautiful, yet evil, 500-year-old?Thuringian?Queen (Monica Bellucci) stealing young girls to restore her own beauty.Long ago, King?Childeric I?came to the forest to build a city while the Queen experimented with?black magic?to gain eternal life. A plague swept through the land, and she hid in her tower, while her husband and everyone below her perished. Her spell granted her immortal life, but not the youth and beauty to go along with it. Her youthful appearance now only exists in her mirror, the source of her life, as an illusion and nothing more.She needs to drink the blood of twelve young girls to regain her beauty; ten have already been reported missing. The Queen is working an enchantment to regain her beauty with the aid of her?werewolf?huntsman and his magic axe, crow?familiars, and various creatures in the forest. The Grimms, with the help of Cavaldi and Angelika (Lena Headey), a knowing huntress from the village, intend to destroy the Mirror Queen.After another girl goes missing, Cavaldi takes the Grimms and Angelika back to Delatombe. Because they have failed, Cavaldi is ordered to kill both the Grimms; but, after convincing Delatombe that the magic in the forest is actually caused by German rebels, he sends them back. While Cavaldi stays behind with Angelika in the village, the brothers attempt to get into the tower. Jake succeeds and discovers the Queen and the power of her mirror. Meanwhile, another girl, named Sasha, is captured despite Angelika and Cavaldi's efforts to save her.Jake rides into the forest alone after a spat with Will, who follows him. After mistaking a dummy that is smashed into the tower for Jake, Will realizes that Jake needs him to believe in him and assists Jake in climbing up the tower. On the roof of the tower, Jake notices twelve crypts in which the twelve victims must lie.When Sasha's body comes up from a well, the werewolf takes her to a tomb. After rescuing Sasha and taking the werewolf's magic axe, the Grimms return to the village. Delatombe captures the brothers and believes them to be frauds. French soldiers begin burning down the forest, and Cavaldi represses his sympathy to the brothers, but they are eventually saved by Angelika.The werewolf is revealed to be Angelika's father, who is under the Queen's spell. It turns out that he is only able to keep on living due to an enchanted spike that is lodged into his chest and, without such, the spell is broken. Angelika is drowned by her father, becoming the 12th victim. The Brothers reach the tower while the Queen breathes an ice wind that puts out the forest fire. Delatombe notices that the Grimms have escaped and goes after them with Cavaldi. When Cavaldi refuses to kill the Grimms, Delatombe shoots him but is later impaled by Will.Will and Jake enter the tower, where Will falls under the Queen's spell when the Queen takes the enchanted spike from Angelika's father and thrusts it into Will's chest. Jake shatters the enchanted mirror in the tower, preventing the Queen from completing the spell that will restore her youth. With the last of his strength, Angelika's father destroys the rest of the mirror by jumping out of the window with it; and Will, attempting to save the Queen, tries to take back the mirror and falls with him, and both men are killed.Outside, Cavaldi survives, having donned the Grimm's faux-magic armor. He finds Will's body and recites an Italian curse, and the tower falls apart. Jake escapes, and Cavaldi informs Jake that he can break the spell and awaken Angelika with a kiss, which in turn resurrects the other girls and Will. With the menace gone and their daughters returned to them, the villagers of Marbaden celebrate and give their heart-felt thanks to the brothers.Cavaldi stays in the village and joins the villagers for the feast. Angelika kisses both the Grimms and tells them that they are always welcome at the village. The Brothers Grimm decide to pursue a new profession, presumably recording fairy tales, although they are now wanted criminals of the state. One of the Queen's crows is seen flying off with the last shard of her mirror, still holding the Queen's watchful eye and presumably, her living soul.The Brothers[edit]Will and Jake have a complicated relationship; Jake is the smaller, younger, more sensitive one that Will feels he needs to protect. Will is often very hard on Jake (dating all the way back to their childhood, when Jake spent their money that was to be used for medicine for their dying sister on "magic beans") and orders him around. Will is somewhat of a womanizer and wants to make money, whereas Jake is more interested in fairy tales and adventures. Jake feels that Will doesn't care about or believe in him; but Will is just frustrated about the way Jake acts so spontaneously, making it hard for Will to protect him.Cast[edit]Matt Damon?and?Heath Ledger?as Wilhelm "Will" and Jakob "Jake" Grimm:?Johnny Depp?was Gilliam's first choice for Will Grimm, but producer?Bob Weinstein?believed Depp was not commercially famous enough for the role. Damon joked that Weinstein "was kicking himself because half-way through production,?Pirates of the Caribbean?came out and Depp was all of a sudden a big sensation".[1]?Ledger met Gilliam in November 2002 when?Nicola Pecorini?recommended the actor to the director, comparing him to Depp. Gilliam intended to cast Ledger opposite Depp.[2]?Damon and Ledger were originally cast in opposite roles before they petitioned to have their characters switched.[3]?Damon had wanted to work with Gilliam for years and actively campaigned to land the role of Will Grimm. The actor "grew up loving [Gilliam's]?Time Bandits, the way that movie created this weird but totally convincing world".[4]?Gilliam elected to have Damon wear a?prosthetic nose, but Weinstein said "it would have distracted audiences from Damon's star-studded good looks".[4]?Gilliam later reasoned that "it would have been the most expensive?nose job?ever".[1]Peter Stormare?as Mercurio Cavaldi, Delatombe's Italian associate. Cavaldi originally has a grudge against the brothers, but eventually has a change of heart.?Robin Williams?was cast in the role before dropping out.[5]Lena Headey?as Angelika: Her father is a?woodsman?transformed into a?werewolf?by the Mirror Queen's spell. Gilliam's first choice for the role was?Samantha Morton.[4]Jonathan Pryce?as General Vavarin Delatombe, a cruel French military commander. Delatombe attempts to burn down the forest and kill the brothers.Tomá? Hanák?as WoodsmanJulian Bleach?as LetorcMonica Bellucci?as the Mirror Queen, a beautiful, evil queen who experimented with?black magic?before being struck by the?Bubonic plague, her spell giving her eternal life but not the eternal youth she had expected.?Nicole Kidman?turned down the role over scheduling conflicts.[6]Mackenzie Crook?and?Richard Ridings?as Hidlick and Bunst: Duo?sidekicks?for the Grimms; they are eventually beheaded by French soldiers.Roger Ashton-Griffiths?as the Mayor, who is duped into employing the Grimms to rid his village of its haunting.Anna Rust?as Sister Grimm[7]Production[edit]Ehren Kruger's screenplay was written as a?spec script; in February 2001,?Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer?(MGM) purchased the script, with?Summit Entertainment?to co-finance the film.[8]?In October 2002,?Terry Gilliam?entered negotiations to direct,[9]?and rewrote Kruger's script alongside frequent collaborator?Tony Grisoni. However, the?Writers Guild of America?refused to credit Gilliam and Grisoni for their rewrite work, and Kruger received sole credit.[10]?After Gilliam's hiring, production was put on fast track for a target November 2004 theatrical release date.[5]?The budget, originally projected at $75 million, was to be Dimension Films' most expensive film ever.[11]?The studio had trouble financing the film, and dropped out as main distributor.[12]?Weeks later,?Bob Weinstein, under his?Dimension Films?production company, made a deal with MGM and Summit to co-finance?The Brothers Grimm, and become the lead distributor.[11]Filming[edit]The original start date was April 2003,[13]?but filming did not begin until 30 June.[14]?It was decided to shoot?The Brothers Grimm?entirely in the?Czech Republic?over budget constraints. Gilliam reasoned that "this is an $80 million movie, which would probably cost $120—$140 million in America".[15]?The majority of filming required?sound stages?and?backlots?from?Barrandov Studios?in Prague. Filming at Barrandov ended on 23 October. Location filming began afterwards, which included the?K?ivoklát Castle.[10][16]?Along with?Alien vs. Predator?and?Van Helsing,?The Brothers Grimm?provided work for hundreds of local jobs and contributed over $300 million into the Czech Republic's economy.[17]?Gilliam hired?Guy Hendrix Dyas?as?production designer?after he was impressed with Dyas' work on?X2.[12]?Gilliam often disputed with executive producers Bob and?Harvey Weinstein?during production.[18]?The Weinstein Brothers fired?cinematographer?and regular Gilliam collaborator?Nicola Pecorini?after six weeks. Pecorini was then replaced by?Newton Thomas Sigel.[4]"I'm used to riding roughshod over?studio executives," Gilliam explained, "but the Weinsteins rode roughshod over me."[4]?Gilliam got so upset, filming was shut down for nearly two weeks. Matt Damon reflected on the situation: "I've never been in a situation like that. Terry was spitting rage at?the system, at the Weinsteins. You can't try and impose big compromises on a visionary director like him. If you try to force him to do what you want creatively, he'll go nuclear."[4]?The feud between Gilliam and the Weinsteins was eventually settled, although Bob Weinstein blamed the entire situation on?yellow journalism.[19]?Filming was scheduled to end in October, but due to various problems during filming, principal photography did not end until the following 27 November.[20]Due to the tensions between the filmmaker and the producers during production, Gilliam said in retrospect about the film, "[I]t's not the film they wanted and it's not quite the film I wanted. It's the film that is a result of?[...]?two groups of people, who aren’t working well together."[21]?With regards to the Weinsteins also producing?Martin Scorsese's film?Gangs of New York?(2002), Gilliam stated: "Marty [Scorsese] said almost the exact same quote I said, without us knowing it: 'They took the joy out of filmmaking.'"[21]Visual effects[edit]Post-production?was severely delayed when Gilliam disagreed with the Weinsteins over the?final cut privilege. In the meantime, the conflict lasted so long that Gilliam had enough time to shoot another feature film,?Tideland. To create the visual effects, Gilliam awarded the shots to Peerless Camera, the London-based effects studio he founded in the late-1970s with?visual effects supervisor?Kent Houston. However, two months into filming, Houston said that Peerless "ran into a number of major issues with?The Brothers Grimm?and with the Weinstein Brothers". He continued that "the main problem was the fact that the number of effects shots had dramatically increased, mainly because of issues that arose during shooting with the physical effects."[22]?Meanwhile, the Queen's chamber inside the tower was actually built by the Art Department as 2 sets. One set was resplendent and new while the other was old and decrepit. The sets were joined to each other by the central mirror, a piece of transparent glass giving the illusion that a single set was reflected and used to create the effect.There were originally to be about 500 effect shots, but it increased to 800. The post-production conflict between Gilliam and the Weinsteins also gave enough time for Peerless to work on another film,?The Legend of Zorro. Four different creatures were required for?computer animation: a Wolfman, a mud creature, the Mirror Queen, and a living tree. John Paul Docherty, who headed the digital visual effects unit, studied the animation of the computer-generated?Morlocks?in?The Time Machine?for the Wolfman. Docherty depicted the Morlocks "as a nice mix between human and animal behaviors".[22]?The death of The Mirror Queen was the most complex effect of the film. In the sequence, the Queen turns into hundreds of shards of glass and shatters. With?computerized rendering, this could not happen, as the 3D volume of the body suddenly turns into 2D pieces of glass. The problem was eventually solved due to sudden advances that occurred with?Softimage XSI?software.[22]Release[edit]The original theatrical release date was due in November 2004 before being changed many times; the dates had been moved to February 2005,[23]?29 July,[24]?23 November,[23]?and finally 26 August. Executive producer?Bob Weinstein?blamed the pushed back release dates on budgetary concerns. To help promote?The Brothers Grimm, a three-minute?film trailer?was shown at the?2004 Cannes Film Festival, while twenty minutes of footage was shown at the?2005 event.[25]Box office[edit]The Brothers Grimm?was released in the United States in 3,087 theaters, earning $15,092,079 in its opening weekend.[26]?The film eventually grossed $37,916,267 in the United States and $67.4 million internationally, coming to a worldwide total of $105,316,267.[26]?The Brothers Grimm?was shown at the?62nd Venice International Film Festival?on 4 September 2005, while in competition for the?Golden Lion, but lost to?Brokeback Mountain, also starring Ledger.[27]Critical reception[edit]The Brothers Grimm?was released with mixed reviews from critics.[28][29]?Based on 179 reviews collected by?Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of the critics enjoyed the film, with an average score of 5.2/10.[28]?By comparison,?Metacritic?collected a score of 51/100 based on 36 reviews.[29]?The majority of critics believed Gilliam sacrificed the storyline in favor of the visual design.[28]?Roger Ebert?called the film "an invention without pattern, chasing itself around the screen without finding a plot. The movie seems like a style in search of a purpose, with a story we might not care about."[30]Stephen Hunter?of?The Washington Post?wrote that "The Brothers Grimm?looks terrific, yet it remains essentially inert. You keep waiting for something to happen, and after a while your mind wanders from the hollow frenzy up there with all its filigrees and fretwork."[31]?Mick LaSalle?from the?San Francisco Chronicle?felt "despite an appealing actor in each role, the entire cast comes across as repellent. Will and Jake Grimm are two guys in the woods, surrounded by computerized animals, putting audiences to sleep all over America."[32]?Peter Travers, writing in?Rolling Stone?magazine, largely enjoyed?The Brothers Grimm. He explained that "if you're a Gilliam junkie, as I am, you go with it, even when the script loses its shaky hold on coherence." Travers added, "even when Gilliam flies off the rails, his images stick with you."[33]?Gene Seymour of?Newsday?called the film "a great compound of rip-snorting Gothic fantasy and?Python-esque?dark comedy".[34]Home media[edit]Currently,?Miramax?owns the home video rights, while?Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer?holds the television rights.[23]?The DVD release of?The Brothers Grimm?in December 2005 includes?audio commentary?by Gilliam, two "making-of" featurettes, and?deleted scenes.[35]?The film was released on?Blu-ray Disc?format in October 2006.[36]?Both the DVD and Blu-ray were released by?Lionsgate Home Entertainment, under license from Miramax.[37]Legacy[edit]The film served as inspiration for the manga series?Blue Exorcist.[38]TV series[edit]DirectGemini RisingFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaGemini RisingDirected byDana SchroederProduced byTim AndersonWritten byMichael ToddKenny YakkelStarringLance HenriksenAmy HathawayJohn SavageBrian KrauseDave VescioMusic byAndrew Morgan SmithCinematographyKeith L. SmithEdited byNathaniel NoseProductioncompaniesPathfinder Film GroupPathfinder ProductionsDistributed byNikkatsuAMG EntertainmentBreaking Glass PicturesFilmCanalPathfinder FilmsSafecracker PicturesRelease datesJuly?3,?2013?(Japan)(DVD première)Running time93 minsCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGemini Rising?(Also known as?Alien Rising) is a 2013 American?Action?Sci-Fi?Thriller?produced by?Tim Anderson?and directed by?Dana Schroeder. The film stars?Lance Henriksen,?Amy Hathaway,?John Savage,?Brian Krause?and?Dave Vescio.Plot[edit]In 2023, an unidentified spacecraft is found orbiting?Neptune?and an investigation is started. Meanwhile, Lisa (Amy Hathaway), a special agent for the?DEA?witnesses what she thinks is the death of her best friend Manning (John Savage), during a drugs raid. She quits her job as a DEA to become a dance teacher however she is recruited again for a secret mission and shipped off to a remote island.On the Island she finds out the secret mission is an investigation into the alien spacecraft that was found orbiting Neptune. She discovers two aliens were found, one small and one much larger with the smaller alien controlling the larger one through?telepathy. Lisa has a surprise meeting with Manning who she thought was dead. After a discussion with Colonel Cenula (Lance Henriksen) it comes to light that Lisa's sister also worked on the alien investigation but was killed through unknown circumstances.After seeing the smaller alien and forming a chance telepathic connection with it, Lisa is tested for a mental connection with her twin sister by Dr. Bainbridge (Dave Vescio). During the investigation Lisa meets Plummer (Brian Krause) and builds a friendship with him which blossoms into romance. But secretly the Colonel, Manning and the Doctor are working together to try and control people using the aliens telepathic technology. The Colonel sells this alien technology to a Korean billionaire for $4 billion. After spying on this transaction Lisa learns of the Colonels plans then steals the access code to the money and attempts to flee the island.The Colonel starts a hunt for Lisa and sends Plummer after her, but with Manning controlling him through telepathy. Manning finds Lisa and attacks her but Plummer regains control of his body and kills himself keeping Lisa from harm. The Colonel kills Manning for failing him. The Colonel then calls for a full evacuation of the island, and releases the large alien using telepathic technology to control it through Doctor Bainbridge. Lisa being chased by the alien runs into a mine field and the alien sets off the mines causing a landslide burying both of them. The Colonel presumes they are dead and in anger kills Doctor Bainbridge. However, both Lisa and the large alien are still alive as the alien protected her from the landslide. The small alien is now back in control of the large alien and wants Lisa to help free them both.With help from the aliens Lisa defeats the military army on the island and they both confront the Colonel with the large alien killing him. Both aliens are freed and they escape as the island self-destructs. The aliens take their spaceship and fly back into space.Cast[edit]Lance Henriksen?as Colonel Stephen CenculaAmy Hathaway?as Lisa MorganJohn Savage?as ManningBrian Krause?as PlummerDave Vescio?as Dr. BainbridgeAlice the Darker Side of the Mirrored by?Zach HamerWriting Credits?(in alphabetical order)??Zach Hamer...(writer)Cast ?Adrien Gamache...Civil War VetNathan Hamer...The Mad HatterTrey Hatch...The DoctorSelena Tibert...AliceProduced by?Zach Hamer...producerCinematography by?Claude BauschingerFilm Editing by?Dragon Day Director:?Jeffrey TravisWriters:?Jeffrey Travis,?Matt PattersonStars:?Ethan Flower,?Osa Wallander,?Jenn Gotzon?|?See full cast & crew??Cast?(in credits order)??Ethan Flower...Duke EvansOsa Wallander...Leslie Evans (as ?sa Wallander)Jenn Gotzon...Rachel EvansEloy Méndez...Alonso BenavidezHope Laubach...Emma EvansWilliam Knight...Albert GrimesDennis Delsing...Sheriff WatsonRichard C. Jones...Officer HopkinsScoot McNairy...PhilKaiwi Lyman-Mersereau...Tibbit (as Kaiwi Lyman)William Ngo...Chinese Officer (as William Wu)Rest of cast listed alphabetically:Jennifer Autry...News AnchorDanielle Bessler...GirlMark Black...Military GuardSusanne L. Bonner...President's AssistantTodd Bouldin...Gang MemberLuis Carranza...LuisCuyle Carvin...Soldier 1Circus-Szalewski...Gang Member #3 (as Andy Nuther)David de Vos...Federal Reserve SpokesmanSam Dobbins...Gang LeaderAngela Francis...Alonso's WifeJames A.E. Fuentez...Survivor In Dumpster 2010Ed Gatica...Gas Station Attendant / Gang MemberKristofer Gordon...Soldier 2Paul Gregory...PresidentCarrie Lazar...Depression WomanBarbara Scolaro...Wristband (voice)Gary Teague...Rioter / ProtesterAidan Travis...BoyJeffrey Travis...Man at ATMTop of FormCreate a character page for:??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??Create ???Bottom of FormProduced by?Mike Akel...executive producerCamron Carrier...associate producerStacy Ekstein...producerEd Gatica...co-producerKaren Markham...executive producerSteve Markham...producerMichelle Mower...associate producerMatt Patterson...producerEric Rosow...executive producerAlex Sobol...producerAnthony Jason Tigner...line producerDiane Timmons...associate producerJeffrey Travis...producerMusic by?Kazimir Boyle...(as Kaz Boyle)Cinematography by?Matt PattersonWhen out-of-work engineer Duke Evans and his family try to rebuild their lives in a remote mountain town, their own version of the American Dream is cut short on the day a devastating cyberattack destroys the U.S. as we know it. Every microchip 'Made in China' has been infected with a virus that rapidly shuts down all modern technology. The aftermath happens fast, and as the rule of law, water, and food run out, Duke and his family must use all their wits and the unlikely help of Alonso, an illegal immigrant, to survive this frighteningly realistic scenario.-?Written by?Travis, JeffreyDuke, an out-of-work NSA engineer, finds his family stuck in a small mountain town the day a devastating cyberattack destroys the U.S. as we know it. Every microchip 'Made in China' has been infected with a virus that rapidly shuts down all modern technology. Duke's fate becomes intertwined with a Mexican migrant worker as they fight the odds to survive in a chaotic world without water, food or power.-?Written by?AnonymousA family getaway to a mountain town turns deadly when China launches a massive cyberattack against the USA, forcing former NSA engineer Duke Evans to fight to save his wife and daughter in the New World Order.-?Written by?Travis, JeffreyPart Four Theatrical release posterDirected byJohn CurranProduced byEdward NortonNaomi WattsSara ColletonJean-Fran?ois FonluptBob YariScreenplay byRon NyswanerEdward Norton?(Uncredited)Based onThe Painted Veil?by?W. Somerset MaughamStarringNaomi WattsEdward NortonLiev SchreiberDiana RiggToby JonesAnthony Wong Chau SangMusic byAlexandre DesplatCinematographyStuart DryburghEdited byAlexandre de FranceschiDistributed byWarner Independent PicturesRelease datesDecember?20,?2006?(US)December?29,?2006(China)April?27,?2007?(UK & IRL)Running time125 minutesCountryChinaUnited StatesCanadaBelgiumLanguageEnglishChineseFrenchBudget$19.4 millionBox office$26,809,273[1]The Painted Veil?is a 2006 American?drama film?directed by?John Curran. The screenplay by?Ron Nyswaner?is based on the 1925?novel of the same title?by?W. Somerset Maugham.?Edward Norton,?Naomi Watts,?Toby Jones,?Anthony Wong Chau Sang?and?Liev Schreiber?appear in the leading roles.This is the third?film adaptation?of the Maugham book, following?a 1934 film?starring?Greta Garbo?and?Herbert Marshall?and a 1957 version called?The Seventh Sin?withBill Travers?and? Plot[edit]On a brief trip back to London, earnest, bookish?bacteriologist?Walter Fane (Edward Norton) is dazzled by Kitty Garstin (Naomi Watts), a vivacious and vain?Londonsocialite. He proposes; she accepts ("only to get as far away from [her] mother as possible"), and the couple?honeymoon?in?Venice. They travel on to Walter's medical post in?Shanghai, where he is stationed in a government lab studying?infectious diseases. They find themselves ill-suited, with Kitty much more interested in parties and the social life of the British expatriates.Kitty meets Charles Townsend (Liev Schreiber), a married British vice consul, and the two engage in a clandestine affair. When Walter discovers his wife's infidelity, he seeks to punish her by threatening to divorce her on the grounds of?adultery, if she doesn't accompany him to a small village in a remote area of?China. He has volunteered to treat victims of an unchecked?cholera?epidemic?sweeping through the area. Kitty begs to be allowed to divorce him quietly, but he refuses, stating "Why should I put myself through the smallest trouble for you?" She hopes Townsend will leave his wife Dorothy and marry her. When she proposes this possibility to Charles, he declines to accept, despite earlier claiming to love Kitty.She is compelled to travel to the mountainous inland region with her husband. They embark upon an arduous, two-week-long overland journey, which would be considerably faster and much easier if they traveled by river, but Walter is determined to make Kitty as unhappy and uncomfortable as possible. Upon their arrival in Mei-tan-fu, she is distressed to discover they will be living in near squalor, far removed from everyone except their cheerful neighbor Waddington, a British deputy commissioner living with a young Chinese woman in relative opulence.Walter and Kitty barely speak to each other and, except for a cook and a Chinese soldier assigned to guard her, she is alone for long hours. After visiting an orphanage run by a group of French nuns, Kitty volunteers her services, and she is assigned to work in the music room. She is surprised to learn from the Mother Superior that her husband loves children, especially babies. In this setting, she begins to see him in a new light as she learns what a selfless and caring person he can be. When he sees her with the children, he in turn realizes she is not the shallow, selfish person he thought her to be.Due to her boredom she goes to the orphanage and begins to work in order to pass the time. It is then that she begins to truly value and admire her husband for the first time. While seeing his wife with the children of the orphanage he recalls when he first met her and he falls in love with her again. As Walter's anger and Kitty's unhappiness subside, their marriage begins to blossom in the midst of the epidemic crisis. She soon learns she is pregnant, but is unsure who the father is. Walter – in love with Kitty again – assures her it doesn't matter.A cholera epidemic takes many victims. As Walter and the locals are starting to get it under control, completely due to his importation of clean water through a system of aqueducts (as the local people did not understand water-borne infectious disease[2][better?source?needed]) cholera carrying refugees from elsewhere pour into the area, forcing Walter to set up a camp outside town. He contracts the disease and Kitty lovingly nurses him, but he dies, and she is devastated. Bereft and pregnant, she leaves China.Five years later, Kitty appears well-dressed and happy in London shopping with her young son Walter. They meet Townsend by chance on the street, and he suggests that Kitty meet with him. Asking young Walter his age, he realizes from the reply that he might have been the boy's father. Kitty rejects his overtures and walks away. When her son asks who Townsend is, she replies "No one important".Cast[edit]Edward Norton?as Walter FaneNaomi Watts?as Kitty Garstin FaneToby Jones?as WaddingtonDiana Rigg?as Mother SuperiorAnthony Wong Chau Sang?as Colonel YuLiev Schreiber?as Charles TownsendJuliet Howland as Dorothy TownsendAlan David?as Mr. GarstinMaggie Steed?as Mrs. GarstinLucy Voller as Doris GarstinMarie-Laure Descoureaux as Sister St. JosephZoe Telford?as LeonaYan Lü as Wan XiXia Yu?as Wu LienFeng Li?as Song QingProduction[edit]Development[edit]Prior to 1999, producer Sara Colleton sought to develop a script for?The Painted Veil. The script was frequently redrafted, being written to be close to the source material, to take liberties with the source material, and to create a?feminist?version. Actor?Edward Norton?became involved with the project in 1999.[3]?Norton explained his attraction to the project, "It's very much a story about people getting beyond the worst in themselves and figuring out how to look at each other honestly, forgive each other for their failings and get to a better place... When I read it, I was very affected by it because in it I saw my own failings."[4]?The actor suggested casting?Naomi Watts?for the role of Kitty, which did not happen until Watts proved herself a bankable star with her performances in?Mulholland Drive?(2001) and?21 Grams?(2003). When Watts joined the project, she recommended director?John Curran, with whom she had collaborated on the 2004 film?We Don't Live Here Anymore. The director's expertise with?We Don't Live Here Anymore?convinced Watts and Norton that he would be capable of depicting the dysfunctional relationship in?The Painted Veil.[3]?The project began development at producers?Bob Yari?and?Mark Gordon's Stratus Film Company, but when Stratus executive Mark Gill left to start?Warner Independent Pictures, he brought the project with him. Gill began production of the film in partnership with Yari. Gill was later fired before the film's completion by?Warner Bros.production president Jeff Robinov, which later led to the film's?marketing difficulties.[5]Yari and Warner Independent Pictures collaborated with a Chinese partner who was granted approval over the script and the finished film. The partnership permitted a budget of $19 million for?The Painted Veil. When the Chinese production company reviewed the film, it was unhappy with the depiction of the Chinese uprising and the cholera victims, requesting that the scenes be revised. Norton and Curran expressed concerns that their studio accepted the censorship too quickly, with the director threatening to remove his name from the film. Their pressure resulted in limiting cuts from the film to only 38 seconds' worth.[5]Writing[edit]Screenwriter?Ron Nyswaner?and Norton collaborated on the screenplay for the film. The 1925 novel by author?W. Somerset Maugham?was considered one-dimensional, so Norton altered the story so the character Walter Fane had a more enhanced role. The character was also rewritten to make his peace with his wife Kitty, leading to them falling in love with each other. Norton explained, "I like to think that we didn't change the book so much as liberate it. We just imagined it on a slightly bigger scale, and made external some of what is internal in the novel." Norton described the novel as "almost unremittingly bleak" and believed that the author had thought that British colonials were unlikely to change. The actor explained of the change to the story, "I went on the assumption that if you were willing to allow Walter and Kitty to grow... you had the potential for a love story that was both tragic and meaningful."[3]?Norton considered?The Painted Veil?to be in the spirit of films like?Out of Africa?(1985) and?The English Patient?(1996), seeing it as "rooted in really looking at the way that men and women hurt each other".[4]Director?John Curran?suggested setting the film during 1925, when the events of the?Chinese nationalist?movement were taking place. Norton, who had studied Chinese history at?Yale University, agreed with the suggestion. To detail scenes from the time period, Curran, Norton, and Nyswaner relied on excerpts from historian?Jonathan Spence's 1969 book?To Change China, which covered the inept efforts of Western advisers during these years. Norton described the character Walter Fane served as "the proxy for the arrogance of Western rationalism", explaining about Fane's confusion at the lack of gratitude for his help, "Walter means well, but he's the folly of empire, and that adds a whole new dimension to what happens in the story. It's a metaphor for the way empires get crushed."[3]Filming[edit]Filming took place on location in?Shanghai, China. The director did not want to build a set for the cholera-stricken village, instead seeking out an untouched parcel of land in China. He found Huang Yao Ancient Town (黄姚古镇 - huáng yáo gǔ zhèn) in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which served as the location for the village. The director described the location, "Even the Chinese crew members were amazed at the place we found... It was like going back in time." According to Nyswaner, a large amount of time of the film production was spent negotiating with the Chinese government for the completion of the film, as there were disagreements over issues in the script.[3]?Most of the film was shot in?Guangxi. Director John Curran commented, "We wanted this movie to be distinctly Chinese. We didn’t want it to look like a film that you could shoot in?Canada?or?Mexico?or?Italy." After a search of location in?Hunan?province, the scouts chose the location in Guangxi for the film. Line producer Antonia Barnard states that initially the film, like the novel, was going to be set in Hong Kong; however, the crew realized Hong Kong of the time period would be difficult to replicate, thus the story was altered so it would take place in Shanghai; the crew shot "Shanghai for Shanghai in the period, and shot London scenes in Shanghai as well."Music[edit]The official soundtrack is composed by?Alexandre Desplat.[6]"The Painted Veil""Gnossienne No 1" (composed by?Erik Satie)"Colony Club""River Waltz""Kitty's Theme""Death Convoy""The Water Wheel""The Lovers""Promenade""Kitty's Journey""The Deal""Walter's Mission""The Convent""River Waltz""Morning Tears""Cholera""The End of Love""The Funeral""From Shanghai to London"There are also three songs not listed on the official soundtrack. All of them are performed by the Choir of the Beijing Takahashi Culture and Art Centre:[7]"Le Furet Du Bois Joli" (Composed by Pierre De Berville, Arranged by Evan Chen)"A la Claire Fontaine" (Vocals by N. Porebski / L. Descamps, Piano by Roger Pouly, Courtesy of Les Petits Minous). This is heard after the funeral of Dr. Fane."Reste Avec Moi" (French translation of "Abide with Me", with words by Henry Lyte, Music by William Monk, Arranged by Evan Chen)Marketing[edit]The film's post-production schedule was initially slated to conclude in late summer 2006, but did not finish until November. According to Laura Kim, the marketing and publicity head of?Warner Independent Pictures, the delay slowed award and media recognition for the film. Other studios were duplicating DVDs of their films for awards organizations, so?The Painted Veil?was unable to get first priority in processing. When?The Painted Veil?experienced a limited release in the?United States?on December 20, 2006 in the cities of?Los Angeles?and?New York City, the meager marketing campaign for the film was criticized. The lack of attention caused half a dozen people associated with the film to complain about how?Warner Independent Pictures?was conducting the marketing campaign. Film critic?Rex Reed?of?The New York Observer?wrote, "Nobody can understand why Warner Independent Pictures is keeping this movie such a secret; it is filled with Oscar possibilities that should be shouted from the rooftops."[5]The firing of Mark Gill, one of the initial producers of?The Painted Veil?who brought it to Warner Independent Pictures, was cited as a reason for the small scale of the film's marketing campaign. Director?John Curranexplained about the move to Warner Independent, "Any transition is not going to be ideal. When the guy who has gotten you on board is gone, you're kind of exposed." Others also criticized the studio for not providing a large enough marketing budget, pointing out that the previous year's?Good Night, and Good Luck?had a more successful campaign with television and newspaper ads.?The Painted Veil?was eventually able to expand to 23 more markets on December 29, 2006, with additional cities on January 5, 2007. Warner Independent also hosted 80 screenings of?The Painted Veil?in Los Angeles, New York,?San Francisco, and?London, as well as to various Hollywood guilds, to promote the film.[5]Release[edit]Box office[edit]The Painted Veil?initially had a?limited release?in four theaters in the?United States?on December 20, 2006, grossing $51,086 over the opening weekend. The film gradually expanded its showings in the United States and?Canada, peaking at 287 theaters on the weekend of January 26, 2007.[8]?The Painted Veil?ultimately grossed $8,060,487 in the United States and Canada and $14,525,904 in other territories for a worldwide total of $22,586,391.[9]Critical reception[edit]On the film review aggregate website?Rotten Tomatoes,?The Painted Veil?has received a 74% 'fresh' rating based on 143 reviews.[10]?On the similar website?Metacritic, the film has received a metascore of 69 out of 100 based on 33 reviews, considered generally favorable reviews.[11]Manohla Dargis of the?New York Times?said the story seems "so unlikely for modern adaptation, particularly when, as is the case here, it hasn’t been refitted with a contemporary hook or allegory for audiences who wouldn’t know Maugham from?Edna Ferber. Instead, as nicely directed by John Curran and adapted to the screen by Ron Nyswaner, this version of the story lulls you by turning Maugham’s distaff?bildungsroman?into a fine romance. Even better, the new film gives us ample opportunity to spend time with Ms. Watts, whose remarkable talent helps keep movie faith and love alive, even in the tinniest, tiniest vehicles . . . An inveterate stealer and masticator of scenes, Mr. Norton is very fine here, especially early on, before his billing gets the better of the story and he begins riding around heroically on horseback . . . Whether through craft or constitution, [he] invests Walter with a petty cruelty that makes his character’s emotional thaw and Kitty’s predicament all the more poignant."[12]Carina Chocano of the?Los Angeles Times?said the film "has all the elements in place to be a great epic, but it fails to connect, to paraphrase Maugham's contemporary?E.M. Forster, the prose with the passion. It's impeccable, but leaves you cold."[13]Peter Travers?of?Rolling Stone?rated the film three out of four stars and commented, "If you're suspecting this third movie version of W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel may carry the infectious dullness of prestige filmmaking, rest easy . . . the film is a?period piece?propelled by emotions accessible to a modern audience . . .?The Painted Veil?has the power and intimacy of a timeless love story. By all means, let it sweep you away."[14]Meghan Keane of the?New York Sun?said the film "may at times threaten to fall into an abyss of sentimentality, and it has moments that seem mere transitions to propel the plot, but it manages a charming historic portrait without insulting the audience's intelligence."[15]Todd McCarthy of?Variety?thought the story "feels remote and old-school despite a frankness the two previous film versions lacked." He added, "Present scripter Ron Nyswaner makes some solid fundamental decisions, beginning with the telescoping down to the barest minimum the London-set opening . . . All the same, the film is still dominated by the stuffy, repressed personality of Fane, whose emotional stonewalling of his wife produces a stifling of Kitty's naturally more vivacious, if common, personality. Despite the extremes of human experience on view, there is a certain blandness to them as they play out, a sensation matched by the eye-catching but picture-postcard-like presentation of the settings . . . Even the ultra-capable Norton and Watts aren't fully able to galvanize viewer interest in their narrowly self-absorbed characters."[16]Awards and honors[edit]Composer?Alexandre Desplat?won the 2006?Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.[17]?Desplat also won an award for Best Original Score from the?Los Angeles Film Critics Association?for both?The Painted Veiland?The Queen?(2006).[18]Ron Nyswaner?won the?National Board of Review Award for Best Adapted Screenplay?and was nominated for the?Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay?but lost to?Jason Reitman?for?Thank You for Smoking.Edward Norton?was nominated for the?Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead?but lost to?Ryan Gosling?in?Half Nelson. The?San Diego Film Critics Society?honored him for his work in this and?The Illusionist?andDown in the Valley.The?London Film Critics' Circle?nominated Toby Jones Best British Supporting Actor of the Year.Ant-Man?(film)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaAnt-ManTheatrical release posterDirected byPeyton ReedProduced byKevin FeigeScreenplay byEdgar WrightJoe CornishAdam McKayPaul RuddStory byEdgar WrightJoe CornishBased onAnt-Man?by?Stan LeeLarry LieberJack KirbyStarringPaul RuddEvangeline LillyCorey StollBobby CannavaleMichael Pe?aTip "T.I." HarrisAnthony MackieWood HarrisJudy GreerDavid DastmalchianMichael DouglasMusic byChristophe BeckCinematographyRussell CarpenterEdited byDan LebentalColby Parker, Jr.ProductioncompanyMarvel StudiosDistributed byWalt Disney StudiosMotion PicturesRelease datesJune?29,?2015(Dolby Theatre)July?17,?2015(North America)Running time117 minutes[1]CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$130 million[2]Box office$519.3 million[3]Ant-Man?is a 2015 American?superhero film?based on the?Marvel Comics?characters?of the same name:?Scott Lang?and?Hank Pym. Produced by?Marvel Studios?and distributed by?Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is?the twelfth installment?of the?Marvel Cinematic Universe?(MCU). The film was directed by?Peyton Reed, with a screenplay by?Edgar Wright?&?Joe Cornish?and?Adam McKay?&?Paul Rudd, and stars Rudd,?Evangeline Lilly,?Corey Stoll,?Bobby Cannavale,?Michael Pe?a,?Tip "T.I." Harris,?Anthony Mackie,?Wood Harris,?Judy Greer,?David Dastmalchian, and?Michael Douglas. In?Ant-Man, Lang must help defend Dr. Pym's Ant-Man shrinking technology and plot a heist with worldwide ramifications.Development of?Ant-Man?began in April 2006, with the hiring of Wright to direct and co-write with Cornish. By April 2011, Wright and Cornish had completed three drafts of the script and Wright shot test footage for the film in July 2012. Pre-production began in October 2013 after being put on hold so that Wright could complete?The World's End. Casting began in December 2013, with the hiring of Rudd to play Lang. In May 2014, Wright left the project, citing creative differences, though he still received screenplay and story credits with Cornish, as well as an executive producer credit. The following month, Reed was brought in as Wright's replacement, while McKay was hired to contribute to the script with Rudd. Principal photography took place between August and December 2014 in San Francisco and?Metro Atlanta.Ant-Man?held its world premiere in Los Angeles on June 29, 2015, and was released in North America on July 17, 2015, in?3D?and?IMAX 3D. Upon its release, the film received positive reviews and grossed more than $518 million worldwide. A sequel, titled?Ant-Man and the Wasp, is scheduled to be released on July 6, 2018.Contents??[hide]?1Plot2Cast3Production3.1Development3.2Pre-production3.3Filming3.4Post-production4Music5Release5.1Marketing5.2Home media6Reception6.1Box office6.2Critical response6.3Accolades7Sequel8References9External linksPlot[edit]In 1989, scientist?Hank Pym?resigns from?S.H.I.E.L.D.?after discovering their attempt to replicate his?Ant-Man?shrinking technology. Believing the technology is dangerous, Pym vows to hide it as long as he lives. In the present day, Pym's estranged daughter,?Hope van Dyne, and former protégé,?Darren Cross, have forced him out of his company, Pym Technologies. Cross is close to perfecting a shrinking suit of his own, the?Yellowjacket, which horrifies Pym.Upon his release from prison, well-meaning thief?Scott Lang?moves in with his old cellmate, Luis. While visiting his daughter?Cassie?unannounced, Lang is rebuked by his former wife Maggie and her police-detective fiancé, Paxton, for not providing child support. Unable to hold a job because of his criminal record, Lang agrees to join Luis' crew and commit a burglary. Lang breaks into a house and cracks its safe, but only finds what he believes to be an old motorcycle suit, which he takes home. After trying the suit on, Lang accidentally shrinks himself to the size of an insect. Terrified by the experience, he returns the suit to the house, but is arrested on the way out. Pym, the homeowner, visits Lang in jail and smuggles the suit into his cell to help him break out.At his home, Pym, who manipulated Lang through an unknowing Luis into stealing the suit as a test, wants Lang to become the new Ant-Man to steal the Yellowjacket from Cross. Having been spying on Cross after discovering his intentions, van Dyne helps Pym train Lang to fight and to control ants. While van Dyne harbors resentment towards Pym about her mother Janet's death, he reveals that Janet, known as the?Wasp, disappeared into a subatomic?quantum realm?to disable a?Sovietnuclear missile. Pym warns Lang that he could suffer a similar fate if he overrides his suit's regulator. They send him to steal a device that will aid their heist from theAvengers' headquarters, where he briefly fights?Sam Wilson.Cross perfects the Yellowjacket and hosts an unveiling ceremony at Pym Technologies' headquarters. Lang, along with his crew and a swarm of flying ants, infiltrates the building during the event, sabotages the company's?servers, and plants explosives. When he attempts to steal the Yellowjacket, he, along with Pym and Hope, are captured by Cross, who intends to sell both the Yellowjacket and Ant-Man suits to?Hydra, led by former S.H.I.E.L.D officer?Mitchell Carson. Lang breaks free and he and Hope dispatch most of the Hydra agents, though Carson is able to flee with a vial of Cross' particles. Lang pursues Cross as he escapes, while the explosives detonate, imploding the building.Cross dons the Yellowjacket and attacks Lang before Lang is arrested by Paxton. His mind addled by the imperfect shrinking technology, Cross takes Cassie hostage to lure Lang into another fight. Lang overrides the regulator and shrinks to subatomic size to penetrate Cross' suit and sabotage it to shrink uncontrollably, killing Cross. Lang disappears into the quantum realm but manages to reverse the effects and returns to the?macroscopic?world. In gratitude for Lang's heroism, Paxton covers for Lang to keep him out of prison. Seeing that Lang survived and returned from the quantum realm, Pym wonders if his wife is alive as well. Later, Lang meets up with Luis, who tells him that Wilson is looking for him.In a mid-credits scene, Pym shows van Dyne a new Wasp prototype suit and offers it to her. In a?post-credits scene, Wilson and?Steve Rogers?have?Bucky Barnes?in their custody. Unable to contact?Tony Starkbecause of "the accords", Wilson mentions that he knows someone who could help.Cast[edit](L-R)?Peyton Reed?(director),?Paul Rudd,?Michael Douglas,?Evangeline Lilly, and?Corey Stoll?at the 2014?San Diego Comic-ConPaul Rudd?as?Scott Lang / Ant-Man:A former systems engineer at VistaCorp and petty criminal who acquires a suit that allows him to shrink in size but increase in strength.[4][5][6][7][8]?Regarding Rudd's casting, producer Kevin Feige said, "Look at that origin of the petty crook who comes into contact with a suit and does his best to make good, and then look at someone like Paul Rudd, who can do slightly unsavory things like break into people's houses and still be charming and who you root for and whose redemption you will find satisfaction in."[5]Director?Peyton Reed?compared Lang to?George Clooney's character?Danny Ocean?from?Ocean's Eleven, saying, "He's a guy trying to create a new life for himself and find redemption." To get in shape for the role, Rudd worked with trainers and cut alcohol, fried foods and carbohydrates out of his diet.[9]?Rudd stated that in preparation for his role, he "basically didn't eat anything for about a year ... I took the?Chris Pratt?approach to training for an action movie. Eliminate anything fun for a year and then you can play a hero."[10]?Rudd signed a multi-film contract with Marvel, with Feige saying it was "three [films]-plus-plus to appear in other things."[2]Evangeline Lilly?as?Hope van Dyne:The daughter of Hank Pym and?Janet van Dyne?and a senior board member of Pym Technologies, who helps Darren Cross take over the company.[11][12][13][14][15]Throughout the film, character progression brings Hope closer to becoming a hero; with the end of the film showing Hank give his daughter a prototype?Wasp?suit, allowing her to take on the mantle from her mother.[16]?Lily described her character as "capable, strong, and kick-ass", but said that being raised by two superheroes resulted in Hope being "a pretty screwed up human being... and the clear message sent by my name is that I'm not a big fan of my father and so I took my mother's name."[17]?She added that van Dyne's "arc in the movie is trying to find a relationship" with Pym.[9]?Originally cast by Wright, Lilly was reluctant to take the role after he left the project until she read the revised script and got a chance to meet with Reed.[13]?Feige said that van Dyne was the more obvious choice to take up the mantle of Ant-Man, being "infinitely more capable of actually being a superhero" than Lang, and that the reason she does not is because of Pym's experience with losing her mother, rather than sexism, which Feige felt would not be a problem for Pym in modern times. Lilly signed a multi-film contract with Marvel.[18]Corey Stoll?as?Darren Cross?/?Yellowjacket:A former protégé of Pym's, who takes over his mentor's company and militarizes a similar version of the Ant-Man technology to create the Yellowjacket suit.[12][14][19][20]?Stoll described the suit as "the next generation of Ant-Man's suit" with a sleeker, more militaristic look as "if?Apple?had designed a battle suit."[21]?As for his character, Stoll said that Cross was more like Hank Pym than "Thanos?or?Loki, who are villains that know it," since Cross is a "brilliant scientist, who is not ethically pure" with shades of gray.[22]?Unlike Rudd, who wore a practical costume as Ant-Man, Stoll wore a?motion capture?suit while performing as Yellowjacket. Reed explained that this decision was made early on when creating and filming with a real Yellowjacket costume was found to be impractical.[23]Bobby Cannavale?as Paxton:An?SFPD?officer[15][24][25]?who is engaged to Lang's former wife Maggie.[26]?Cannavale stated that Rudd and McKay convinced him to join the film during the rewriting process before Marvel approached him, saying, "They sort of pumped [my] part up a bit... I really went on good faith [taking the role] because they're so secretive [at Marvel] about the script. I just trusted them." He also added that the process felt like an indie film instead of a large-scale blockbuster, and that he was able to improvise frequently along with the other actors.[26]?Patrick Wilson?was originally cast in the role[27]?before leaving the film because of scheduling conflicts brought on by the filming delay.[28]Michael Pe?a?as Luis:Lang's former cellmate[24][25][29]?and a member of his crew.[30]?Pe?a stated that he modeled Luis' vocal style and positive outlook on life "on a friend of a friend", saying, "That's just the way he talks and the cadence. He's got this grin on the entire time and he doesn't care. He's the kind of guy where you're like 'Hey, what'd you do this weekend?' and he's like 'I went to jail, dawg,' with a smile on his face. Not a lot of people do that. Not a lot of people think of life on those terms."[31]?Pe?a signed a contract with Marvel for three films.[32]Tip "T.I." Harris?as Dave:[24][25]A member of Lang's crew.[30]?Harris described Dave as Lang's "homeboy".[33]?Harris also revealed that he was not permitted to read the entire script, explaining "You're just handed scenes as the film [went] along, and when you do that, it's like a blank canvas, 'This is what I'm going to do for this scene,' and you can remember previous performances and remain consistent with that. The energy created by the ensemble you have around you, it contributes to the outlook or the final view of what your character has become, and what he meant to the story."[34]Anthony Mackie?as?Sam Wilson / Falcon:An?Avenger?who is a former?pararescueman?trained by the military in aerial combat using a specially designed wing pack.[35]?On including Falcon, Reed said that it was not done just to include the character, rather "[i]t served a plot point; a purpose in our story" and allowed them to enhance Pe?a's "tip montages", which were written by production writers Gabriel Ferrari and Andrew Barrer,[36]?also adding Falcon "seemed like the right character — not a marquee character like?Iron Man?or?Thor, but the right level of hero."[37]?Rudd and McKay decided to include Falcon after watching?Captain America: The Winter Soldier.[38]Wood Harris?as Gale:[24][25]?A police officer and Paxton's partner.Judy Greer?as Maggie: Lang's estranged former wife.[24][25][39]David Dastmalchian?as Kurt:[24][25]A member of Lang's crew.[30]?Dastmalchian worked with actress Isidora Goreshter to learn how to speak in his character's Russian accent. On his character, Dastmalchian said that he "had this idea that Kurt was born and raised in a town even further out than?Siberia?and he was just an amazing computer wizard who fell in with the wrong people. But he was obsessed with two things:?Saturday Night Fever?and?Elvis Presley, hence the polyester shirts unbuttoned too far and the hair in that pompadour."[40]Michael Douglas?as?Hank Pym:A former?S.H.I.E.L.D.?agent,[41]?entomologist, and physicist, who became the original Ant-Man in 1963 after discovering the?subatomic particles?that make the transformation possible. He later mentors Lang to take over the role.[6][7][19][42]?Douglas compared his decision to join a superhero film to his role in?Behind the Candelabra?saying, "Sometimes—like [when] they didn't see you for?Liberace—you've got to shake them up a little bit and have some fun."[43]?Describing Pym, Douglas said, "He's sort of a Northern California, formal guy. He's lost control of his company. He lives in sort of a time warp. He was always a bit of a tinkerer. He's got a lab, plus a lot of other stuff, in his basement that we find out about. He's certainly bitter about what happened with his company and deeply scared of what the future might hold—because he himself, after having gotten small so many times, it's difficult. He looks and tries to find a guy that he can work with and has the right characteristics, which is [Scott]."[15]?Douglas indicated that he would not be wearing the Ant-Man suit.[44]Additionally,?John Slattery?and?Hayley Atwell?reprise their roles as?Howard Stark?and?Peggy Carter, respectively, from previous MCU media.[45][46]?Slattery stated that his involvement in?Ant-Man?was "not that much more" than his participation in?Iron Man 2, while Atwell described her appearance as being "more of a cameo".[46][47]?Abby Ryder Fortson?portrays?Cassie, the daughter of Lang and Maggie;[2][16][48]?Gregg Turkingtonappears as Dale, the manager of a?Baskin-Robbins?store;[25][49][50]?and?Martin Donovan?plays?Mitchell Carson, a former member of S.H.I.E.L.D. who works for?Hydra?and looks to purchase the Yellowjacket technology.[51][52]?Garrett Morris, who portrayed Ant-Man in a?Saturday Night Live?sketch, appears as a man in a car.[53]?Ant-Man co-creator?Stan Lee?makes a cameo appearance in the film as a bartender.[54][55]Chris Evans?and?Sebastian Stan?make uncredited appearances during the post-credits scene as?Steve Rogers / Captain America?and?Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, respectively.[56]?Hayley Lovitt makes a nonspeaking cameo as?Janet van Dyne / Wasp.[57]?Tom Kenny?provides the voice of "Hideous Rabbit", a children's plush toy.[58]Production[edit]Development[edit]Development of an?Ant-Man?film began as early as the late 1980s, when Ant-Man co-creator?Stan Lee?pitched the idea to?New World Entertainment,?Marvel Comics' parent company at the time. However,?Walt Disney Pictures?was developing a film based on a similar concept,?Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and although?Ant-Man?went into development, nothing came to fruition.[59]In 2000,?Howard Stern?met with Marvel in an attempt to purchase the film rights to Ant-Man.[60]?In May of that year,?Artisan Entertainment?announced a deal with Marvel to coproduce, finance and distribute a film based on Ant-Man.[61]?In 2003,?Edgar Wright?and his writing partner?Joe Cornish?wrote a treatment for Artisan, with Wright explaining that it revolved around?Scott Lang?as a burglar "so he could have gone slightly in the?Elmore Leonard?route", though Artisan wanted the film to be "like a family thing". However, Wright believed that the treatment was never sent to Marvel.[62]?A year later, the duo pitched the film to?Marvel Studios' then head of production,?Kevin Feige.[9]?In April 2006, Marvel Studios hired Wright to direct?Ant-Man?as part of the company's first slate of independently produced films, buoyed by a $525 million revolving film-financing facility. Wright also signed to co-write the screenplay with Cornish, based on a comic book series about an electronics expert who can shrink to the size of an insect and communicate with ants via telepathic/cybernetic helmet, and to co-produce the film with his?Big Talk Productions?partner,?Nira Park.[63]"The thing I like about Ant-Man is that it's not like a secret power, there's no supernatural element or it's not a genetic thing. There's no gamma rays. It's just like the suit and the gas, so in that sense, it really appealed to me in terms that we could do something high-concept, really visual, cross-genre, sort of an action and special effects bonanza, but funny as well."—Screenwriter?Edgar Wright[64]At the 2006?San Diego Comic-Con International, Wright said he was intrigued by the story's high concept and character. Wright also stressed that the film would not be a?spoof?but an action-adventure with some comedic elements and would incorporate both the?Hank Pym?and Scott Lang incarnations of the character.[65]?Wright said that he was looking to "do a prologue where you see Pym as Ant-Man in action in the 60's, in sort of?Tales to Astonish?mode basically, and then the contemporary, sort of flash-forward, is Scott Lang's story, and how he comes to acquire the suit, how he crosses paths with Hank Pym, and then, in an interesting sort of Machiavellian way, teams up with him."[64]?The next February, Wright said that the project was in "a holding pattern" while the script was being revised,[66]?and that he had been doing research for the film by studying?nanotechnology.[67]?In March 2008, Wright said that the first draft of the script had been completed and he was working on the second.[68]Stan Lee?tweeted?in February 2010 that Marvel was prepping the film and that he met with Wright for lunch to discuss the character.[69]?Wright noted that there was no timetable for the film because Marvel did not consider the character to be one of their bigger, tentpole properties, so "It's more like me and Kevin Feige saying...'Let's make a good script that works, that's all about a great genre film, and that isn't necessarily relying on anything else'".[70]?At the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, Wright said that Ant-Man would not fit in the chronology of?The Avengers?due to the origin story he had written not working in the MCU.[71]?In January 2011, Wright stated that he had resumed writing the script for the film following the conclusion of the international promotion for?Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,[72]?and by April he and Cornish delivered the second draft of?Ant-Man?to Marvel.[73]?At the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International, Wright revealed a third draft had been handed in.[74](L-R) moderator Geoff Boucher, producer?Kevin Feige?and Wright at the 2012?San Diego Comic-Con International.In May 2012, Feige said that the project was "as close as it's ever been" while Wright teased the film by tweeting a pictogram of Ant-Man.[75]?In June, Wright spent just under a week shooting footage for a reel that would be used to test out the potential look and tone of his movie, as well as to decide how convincing Ant-Man's powers look on screen.[76]?The test footage was screened to audiences during the Marvel Studios panel at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International, with Wright confirming that?Ant-Manwould be happening.[77]?Germain Lussier of?/Film?felt the footage worked and was "awesome", as "it had a totally different vibe from the other Marvel films. It was much more like something you'd recognize from?Hot Fuzz." Lussier, along with Katy Rich of CinemaBlend, also enjoyed the costume design choice.[78][79]?That October, Disney scheduled the film for release on November 6, 2015.[80]Feige stated in January 2013 that?Ant-Man?would in fact be part of Phase Three of the?Marvel Cinematic Universe,[81]?and indicated in May that the screenplay needed to be modified in order to fit into the universe, as the project had been in development before the first?Iron Man?film. Feige also stated that shooting was slated to begin sometime in 2014,[82]?and that casting would begin towards the end of 2013.[83]?In July 2013, Wright said that he and Cornish had completed the script for the film and that Marvel allowed him to delay its production so that he could complete?The World's End,[84]?as that film's producer?Eric Fellner?was diagnosed with cancer.[85]In August 2013, after?Joss Whedon, director of?Avengers: Age of Ultron, announced that Hank Pym would not be?Ultron's creator, Wright said Ultron was never a part of the story of?Ant-Man,[86]?explaining that "just to sort of set up what Ant-Man does is enough for one movie".[87]?Wright described?Ant-Man?as a?stand-alone?film but said it would fit into to the larger continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, explaining, "I like to make it standalone because I think the premise of it needs time. I want to put the crazy premise of it into a real world, which is why I think?Iron Man?really works because it's a relatively simple universe; it's relatable. I definitely want to go into finding a streamlined format where you use the origin format to introduce the main character and further adventures can bring other people into it."[88]?Wright also stated that pre-production for?Ant-Man?would begin in October and filming would begin in 2014.[89]?The next month, Disney moved the film's release date up to July 31, 2015.[90]Pre-production[edit]In October 2013, Wright revealed that he was in Los Angeles to work on?Ant-Man?by tweeting a photograph from the production of the June 2012 test reel.[91]?Joseph Gordon-Levitt?and?Paul Rudd?were soon being considered for the lead role,[92]?though?Gordon-Levitt?dismissed his consideration as a rumor.[93]?Feige stated that?Ant-Man?would be a "heist movie", and that a casting announcement for Hank Pym would come before the end of 2013.[94]?The next month, Feige stated that?Eric O'Grady's Ant-Man would not be featured in the film,[95]?while Rudd became the front-runner to play Hank Pym, and casting for the character's girlfriend had begun.[96]?Around that time, the filmmakers' intentions to shoot in the United Kingdom were dashed because of a lack of studio space, which Wright believed was due to the plan by?Pinewood Shepperton?to add fifteen studios to their facility, which was rejected in part by the local council in May 2013 because the project was eyeing protected land.[97][98]?By the end of the month, the film was scheduled to be shot in the U.S. instead.[99]In December 2013, Wright, a fan of the comic book since childhood—owning copies of?Tales to Astonish?#27 featuring the "The Man in the Ant-Hill" storyline and?Marvel Premiere?#47 featuring the first appearance of Scott Lang[100]—stated that the difference between?Ant-Man?and other films featuring size-changing is "other shrinking movies are usually about somebody trapped small. This is different in that he can actually change size and he can do that at will, so it becomes more of a power than an impediment."[101]?Wright also talked about the challenge of directing a superhero film, saying, "Shaun?and?Hot Fuzz?and?World's End?are all R-rated films. I like the challenge of making a PG-13 film. Because you've got to entertain in a different way. You don't have the same tools."[102]?By December 19, Rudd was in negotiations to star in the film,[103][104]?and Marvel announced that he had been cast as Ant-Man the next day.[105]In January 2014, Wright posted a screenshot on his blog from the?Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes?episode "To Steal an Ant-Man", which features Hank Pym and introduces the Scott Lang character, with the caption "homework".[106][107]?Michael Douglas?was subsequently cast as Pym, with Rudd confirmed to play Lang.[6]?Michael Pe?a?was offered an unspecified role in the film.[108]?Also in January, filming was scheduled take place at?Pinewood Atlanta?in?Fayette County, Georgia,[109]?while Disney changed the release date once again, moving the film up to July 17, 2015.[110]?The next month,?Evangeline Lilly?entered early talks to portray the female lead,[11]?and Wright announced on his blog that?Bill Pope, who he worked with on?Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?and?The World's End, would be his?director of photography.[111]?By March, Wright and Cornish turned in a fifth draft of the script, amid alleged disputes on the direction the script was taking. As well, Wright and Cornish wrote a scene intended for the post-credits of?Avengers: Age of Ultron?that would have acted as a prelude to the film.[112]?Corey Stoll?entered negotiations for an undisclosed role in the film,[20]?and by April,?Patrick Wilson?and?Matt Gerald?were cast in undisclosed roles.[113][114]"Ant-Man is interesting because he was one of the original?Avengers, which I think people forget about. So, I like that idea in the?movie universe... I also like that it's this sort of passing of the torch. There's sort of a weird mentor / pupil thing happening between Michael Douglas' character Hank Pym and Scott Lang, which Paul Rudd plays. Hank Pym used to be old Ant-Man and he is trying to find someone to be the new Ant-Man. I like that. I think that's sort of a classic Marvel Comics thing and something that we really haven't seen in that universe."—Peyton Reed, director of?Ant-Man[115]On May 23, 2014, Marvel and Wright jointly announced that Wright was leaving the project, because of "differences in their vision of the film" and that the studio was closing in on a new director.[116]?Pope also left the project in the wake of Wright's departure.[117]?By May 30,Adam McKay?had entered negotiations to replace Wright,[118]?but pulled out of negotiations the next day.[119]?On June 7, Marvel announced that?Peyton Reed?would direct the film, with McKay contributing to the film's script.[4]?Other directors under consideration included?Ruben Fleischer,?Rawson Marshall Thurber,?Nicholas Stoller,?Michael Dowse, and?David Wain.[120][121][122][123]Later in June, Feige stated the film was still intended to be released on the July 17, 2015 date, with production slated to begin on August 18, 2014.[124][125]?Feige elaborated that "much of the movie will still be based very much on [Wright and Cornish's] draft and the DNA of what Edgar has created up to this point" with Reed stepping in to direct, and McKay reworking only parts of the script. "[Reed] wanted to be sure that he wasn't just inheriting something or following someone else's lead. Or wasn't inheriting something that the evil studio had watered down to be something bad," Feige continued. "He looked at everything, he talked with us, and he said 'Number one, I agree with the direction you're going in. And number two, I can add to it.'"[126]McKay stated that Rudd helped him rewrite the script, calling Rudd "great with dialogue", adding "the two of us holed up in hotel rooms on the east and west coast, and I think it was like six to eight weeks we just ground it out and did a giant rewrite of the script. I was really proud of what we did, I really thought we put some amazing stuff in there and built on an already strong script from Edgar Wright and sort of just enhanced some stuff."[127]?Rudd elaborated, "The idea, the trajectory, the goal, and the blueprint of it all, is really Edgar and Joe. It's their story. We changed some scenes, we added new sequences, we changed some characters, we added new characters. If you took the two scripts and held them up together they'd be very different—but the idea is all theirs."[128]?Reed also offered contributions to the revised script, as did Lilly and Stoll, who contributed ideas to help flesh out their respective characters. Lilly's character received a fuller arc and more action sequences as a result.[15]?One of the important things when joining the film for Reed was emphasizing both Hope and Janet van Dyne more, given the Wasp being "a crucial part" of the Ant-Man comics.[129]?For their efforts, McKay and Rudd were credited as additional writers of the screenplay, with Wright and Cornish credited for the screenplay and story.[130]?Wright also held an executive producer credit on the film.[131]By the end of July, Wilson left the film because of scheduling conflicts brought on by the filming delay, and characters being played by Gerald and?Kevin Weisman?were cut in McKay's revised script.[28]?Also, Reed indicated that filming would take place in San Francisco as well as Georgia.[132]?The next month, Reed revealed that?Scott Lang's daughter?would appear in the film,[133]?and Gabriel Ferrari and Andrew Barrer were hired to make further revisions to the script.[134]?After reading the revised script, Evangeline Lilly felt that the film was "pulled" more into the MCU than Wright's version which "was much more in the Edgar Wright camp of films." She added that, while Wright's version was "incredible" and would have been great to film and watch, "it wouldn't have fit in the Marvel Universe. It would have stuck out like a sore thumb, no matter how good it was. It just would have taken you away from this cohesive universe they're trying to create. And therefore it ruins the suspended disbelief that they've built."[13]Filming[edit]Reed at the world premiere of?Ant-Man?in Hollywood.Principal photography?began on August 18, 2014 in San Francisco,[25]?under the?working title?Bigfoot.[41]?Scenes were shot in the?Tenderloin?neighborhood and?Buena Vista Park.[135]By the end of September 2014, production on?Ant-Man?moved to Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia,[136]?and?David Callaham?completed a rewrite of the film.[137]Filming also took place at the State Archives building in?Downtown Atlanta,[138]?to double as Pym Technologies, which is located on?Treasure Island, San Francisco?in the film.[139]?In October 2014,?Martin Donovan?was added to the cast,[51]?and Feige revealed that?Ant-Man?would no longer start Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and would instead be the final film of Phase Two.[140]?When told by?/Film's Germain Lussier that this placement between?Avengers: Age of Ultron?and?Captain America: Civil War?made the film feel like an afterthought, Feige replied,It's not [an after thought]. The truth is the phases mean a lot to me and some people but...Civil War?is the start of Phase Three. It just is. And?Ant-Man?is a different kind of culmination of Phase Two because it very much is in the MCU. You meet new characters and you learn about Hank Pym and his lineage with the MCU over the years. But at the same time, it also picks up the thread of?Age of Ultron?in terms of heroes—major heroes, Avengers—coming from unexpected places... And in that way it connects a lot. Also, Hank Pym's attitude towards Avengers, towards?S.H.I.E.L.D., and kind of the cinematic universe in general, is much more informed after the events of?Age of Ultron, and in a certain way, before the events of?Civil War.[141]Feige later expanded on this by saying, "[W]e put?Ant-Man?at the end of Phase Two as opposed to the beginning of Phase Three, because it sets up a lot of the things you're going to see heading into Phase Three, one of which is this mind-bending, reality-altering landscape [in?Doctor Strange].[38]?On December 5, 2014, Reed announced on social media that principal photography on?Ant-Man?had been completed.[142]For the film, cinematographer?Russell Carpenter?used a 1.85?aspect ratio?shot with?Arri Alexa XT?and?M?cameras, using the M for fight sequences and helicopter filming. Camera operator Peter Rosenfeld said, "Russell and Peyton's decision to shoot in 1.85 was a good call, since at 2.35 there's insufficient height in frame to appreciate the vertical aspects of [Ant-Man] going from standing full-size to falling through a crack in the floor." Carpenter and?Technicolor?also devised a?lookup table?(LUT) to darken the color palette. Carpenter said, "For a lot of recent comedies I've kept my LUTs kind of 'Kodak' – saturated and upbeat. But this show needed something different that affected skin tones and the Ant-Man suit, which dates back to the 1980s, so it looks a little run-down. What I loved about this LUT was how it allowed the costume to retain the color but took it from fire-engine red to something a little more weathered."[143]The filmmakers made extensive use of?macro photography. Production designer Shepherd Frankel said, "It's more visually interesting to depict things from Ant-Man's point of view instead of seeing him from a normal perspective. But we wanted a realistic realization, not?Honey, I Shrunk the Kids?with its oversized set pieces."[143]?Rebecca Baehler served as the director of macro photography, taking cues from Carpenter.[144]?Carpenter said vibration became "a tremendous problem" when moving the camera during the macro photography because "one inch off the ground is like fifteen feet in the air. From an ant's perspective, you move four inches, to a human perspective, that's a football field!" The solution required the filmmakers to think outside of the box so they turned to Baehler, who had a background in "commercial 'tabletop' photography." In order to add Rudd's performance as Ant-Man when in the macro world a Centroid facial capture set up was used, with a 5-camera array of Alexas surrounding Rudd. Rosenfeld explained, "One camera was set up vertically while the others were horizontal with overlapping image areas, all set to record at 48 frames per second. This maximized resolution and provided 3D modeling [of] Paul's performance." Reed would then call out story moments with Rudd performing "facial expressions that would later be composited on a?CG?Ant-Man."[143]Post-production[edit]Following the completion of principal photography, Marvel released an updated synopsis revealing that?Jordi Mollà?was included in the cast and the names of several supporting characters.[24]?However, Mollà subsequently did not appear in the theatrical release of the film. Reed explained that the film's original opening, which was filmed and cut in the editing process, featured a standalone sequence similar to the opening of a?James Bond film, where an unseen Pym was attempting to retrieve some microfilm from Mollà's character, Castillo, a Panama army general. Reed stated the scene was going to show Ant-Man's powers, without seeing him, almost "like an Invisible Man sequence, and it's really, really cool. It started to feel tonally disconnected from the movie we were making and story-wise, and it also kind of like, it set a standalone adventure, but it didn’t just connect to the rest of our story... It felt like vestige of those earlier drafts [by Wright and Cornish], which as a standalone thing was really cool."[145]?Dan Lebental and Colby Parker, Jr. served as?film editors.[25]?In March 2015,?Hayley Atwell?confirmed that she would reprise her role as?Peggy Carter?in the film.[46]?In April 2015, Reed stated that, while not completed yet, the film would be undergoing "a little bit of additional" filming.[146]In June 2015, Feige confirmed that the character of Janet van Dyne would be seen, though the film would not address Pym and van Dyne's infamous domestic abuse storyline in the comics, saying, "We hint at a temper in a way that people who know the stories might go, 'Oh, perhaps that's a bit of [Hank's] character,' but not in a way that would ever indicate [he beat his wife]."[147]?Also in the month, Reed confirmed there would be a post-credit sequence "that may tie into the other films."[148]?Feige revealed the post-credit sequence was footage shot by the?Anthony and Joe Russo?from?Captain America: Civil War, saying the clip would be seen in that film, though it may be "different takes... different angles."[149][150]?On June 25, 2015, Reed announced on social media that production of?Ant-Man?was officially complete.[151]?In early July 2015, an international teaser trailer revealed that?Anthony Mackie?would appear in the film as?Sam Wilson / Falcon.[35]?Mackie appears in the post-credit sequence as well, along with?Chris Evans?and?Sebastian Stan?as?Steve Rogers / Captain America?and?Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, respectively.[56]?Stan stated the scene that was used for the post-credit sequence was shot in May 2015, and would appear in the middle of?Civil War.[152]Also in the month, Reed revealed that the quantum realm in the film was MCU's version of the?microverse,[36]?and that the end of the film originally had a sequence where Ant-Man went after Carson to retrieve the stolen vial of Cross' particles, "[b]ut then for a couple reasons, it felt like maybe we should leave those particles out there."[153]?For the title sequences, Marvel again went with design firm Sarofsky, who had done the credits for both?Captain America: The Winter Soldier?and?Guardians of the Galaxy, with the credits "intricately connected to the film's overall narrative."[154]For Yellowjacket sequences, Stoll wore a?motion capture?suit while on set (top), which was replaced by an entirely digital creation built by Double Negative (bottom).[144]Visual effects for the film were provided by?Industrial Light & Magic?(ILM), Lola VFX,?Double Negative,?Luma Pictures, and?Method Studios, with?previsualization?by The Third Floor.[15][144][155]?Double Negative handled the scenes featuring shrunken characters, incorporating the macro photography and?motion capture?performances shot in principal photography with digital models of the characters. Double Negative also worked on Ant-Man's shrinking effect, in coordination with ILM to be used by all vendors, which showed the outline of his body – an element from the comics. Visual effects supervisor Alex Wuttke said, "It's like a little time echo. As Ant-Man shrinks in almost a stop motion way he would leave behind outlines of the poses he'd been in as he shrinks down... We'd have two CG cameras rendering the action from different points along the timeline with slightly different framings. One would be the main shot camera, the other would be a utility camera that would provide renders of static poses of Ant-Man at different points along the timeline."[144]For the flashbacks in 1989, Douglas and Donovan appeared de-aged via CGI, alongside Atwell as Carter (aged in makeup and with CGI) and?John Slattery?as?Howard Stark.[41][49][144][147]?To de-age Douglas, Lola VFX used a similar process and technology that was used to make Steve Rogers skinny in?Captain America: The First Avengerand Carter older in?Captain America: The Winter Soldier?as well as footage of Douglas' other films from the late 1980s as reference.[38][155]?Dax Griffin?served as Douglas'?body double?and an additional reference for Lola, because of his "striking resemblance of Michael when he was about 40".[155][156]?For Donovan, he only needed to be de-aged about a decade, so no double was used, the work on him focused on his eyes, neck, and chin. Atwell wore a wig on set, along with a fine layer of latex makeup to give the skin a more leathery look, with Lola transposing the facial features of an elderly actress onto the face of Atwell.[144]Method and Luma both worked on creating the various ants seen in the film, with Method creating the several species of ants, to share among the vendors. Luma also handled many of the scenes at Pym Technologies when Ant-Man attempts to acquire the Yellowjacket. ILM worked on the Falcon fight sequence, having done Falcon visual effects inThe Winter Soldier. Using practical suit pieces built by?Legacy Effects, ILM mixed live-action shots with digital take-overs and fully digital shots to create the sequence. ILM also handled the sequences in the quantum realm, providing an array of microscopic and largely psychedelic imagery for the subatomic shrinking, taking advantage of procedural fractal rendering techniques the studio had utilized on?Lucy.[144]Music[edit]Main article:?Ant-Man (soundtrack)In February 2014, Wright tweeted that?Steven Price?would?score?the film.[111]?However, Price left soon after Wright's departure from the project in May 2014.[117]?In January 2015,?Christophe Beck, who worked with Reed on?Bring It On, was hired to replace Price.[157]?Describing the film's score, Beck said, "For?Ant-Man, I wanted to write a score in the grand symphonic tradition of my favorite superhero movies, with a sweeping scope and a big, catchy main theme. What makes this score stand out among other Marvel movies, though, is a sneaky sense of fun since it is, after all, not only a superhero movie, but also a heist comedy."[158]Hollywood Records?released the soundtrack digitally on July 17, 2015, and had a physical release on August 7.[159]Release[edit]Rudd at the world premiere of?Ant-Man?in Hollywood.Ant-Man?premiered at the?Dolby Theatre?in Hollywood on June 29, 2015,[160]?and opened the 2015?Fantasia International Film Festival?on July 14, 2015, along with?Miss Hokusai.[161]The film was released in France on July 14,[162]?and was released in North America on July 17,[110]?in?3D?and?IMAX 3D.[163][164]?The film was released in the United States in 3,800 theaters, with the breakdown of 3,100 3D screens, 361 IMAX screens, 388?large format?screens and 133?D-Box?screens.[162]?Ant-Man?had originally been scheduled for release on November 6, 2015.[80]?In September 2013, the release was moved to July 31, 2015,[90]?before changing for a final time to July 17, 2015 in January 2014.[110]?An unfinished version of the film was screened on June 24, 2015, at?CineEurope.[165]Marketing[edit]In March 2014,?ABC?aired a one-hour?television special?titled,?Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe, which included a sneak peek of?Ant-Man.[166][167]?In July 2014, Reed, Rudd, Douglas, Lilly, and Stoll appeared at Marvel Studios' panel at the 2014 San Diego Comic–Con International to help promote the film and screen a visual effects test featuring Rudd and Douglas.[19]?In October 2014, Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief?Axel Alonso?stated there are comic tie-in plans for the film.[168]?In November 2014, ABC aired another one-hour television special titled,?Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!, which featured behind the scenes footage of?Ant-Man.[169]?Marvel Comics' February 2015 solicitations released in December 2014, revealed a two-issue comic tie-in,?Marvel's Ant-Man Prelude, following Hank Pym as Ant-Man on a mission during the Cold War.[170]?A second comic tie-in,?Marvel's Ant-Man—Scott Lang: Small Time, was released digitally on March 3, 2015. It explains Lang's circumstances at the beginning of the film.[171]In January 2015, Disney officially began the film's marketing campaign by releasing a miniature "ant-sized" teaser trailer, a full-sized version of the same teaser trailer, a poster, a cover on?Entertainment Weekly, and a full-length trailer during the premiere of the television series?Agent Carter. Scott Mendelson of?Forbes, said, "It was darn-clever for Disney to put out a miniature 'can't see anything without a microscope' version of the now-standard trailer for the trailer. I sighed just a little when they 'gave in' and released a human-sized version, realizing that Disney had just released what amounted to a teaser to a teaser to a trailer... But nonetheless, credit where credit is due, Disney was able to turn a single theatrical trailer into three separate news drops in about five days." Mendelson went on to say that "the peppy, witty trailer above is a general audience sell. Marvel knows the geeks will come if only to throw stones, but it's the mainstream audience that needs to be sold. So far, so good."[172]?However, Graeme McMillan of?The Hollywood Reporter?criticized the trailer for its placement during the broadcast premiere of?Agent Carter, its tone, its soundtrack, and for being thematically similar to other trailers from Marvel Studios. McMillan concluded, "The?Ant-Man?trailer isn't bad, per se; it is, however, impressively underwhelming, which almost seems worse. Thanks to the last-minute exit of original writer-director Edgar Wright and the subsequent struggle to find a replacement,?Ant-Man?has become the movie that people are expecting to be Marvel's first failure, in critical if not financial terms, at least; this trailer, which fails to convince and gets by on goodwill for those involved and the Marvel brand as much as anything else, doesn't do enough — or anything, really — to persuade audiences that that's not the case."[173]?The trailer generated 29 million views worldwide in three days, the third-largest viewership for a Marvel Studios film, behind trailers for?Iron Man 3?and?Avengers: Age of Ultron.[174]In April 2015, Marvel debuted a second trailer for?Ant-Man. Mendelson said it was "frankly the?Ant-Man?trailer that we've been waiting for. It's not just funny and exciting, it's an 'Ah ha!' moment when we realize just what exactly an?Ant-Man?movie has to offer."[175]?Also in April, miniature?billboards?promoting?Ant-Man?with battery-powered?LED?lights began appearing in?Brisbane,?Melbourne?and other areas around?Queensland, Australia as part of a?street marketing?campaign for the film.[176]?In May 2015, Marvel, in partnership with?Dolby Laboratories,?Visa, and?Raspberry Pi, announced the "Ant-Man Micro-Tech Challenge", aimed at females aged 14 through 18, to create?DIY?projects involving micro technology and readily accessible and found materials. Winners teamed with?STEM?(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education) programs in their areas to lead teams in recreating their projects.[177]?On June 11, 2015, Marvel released posters featuring Ant-Man juxtaposed with?Iron Man's armor,?Captain America's shield, and Thor's hammer?Mjolnir. Mendelson compared this to Disney's marketing campaign for?Lilo & Stitch?that put the?protagonist?into iconic scenes from other Disney cartoons.[178]?Beginning June 12, a six-minute IMAX preview of the film was screened before showings of?Jurassic World.[179]?Additionally, beginning June 19, scenes from the film were shown at?Disney California Adventure's?Bug's Life Theater?in 3D with in-theater effects.[180]In early July 2015, Marvel began a?viral marketing?campaign featuring?Leslie Bibb, reprising her role from the?Iron Man?films as journalist?Christine Everhart, reporting for a faux news program. In the program, Everhart discuses the fallout from the events of?Avengers: Age of Ultron, Lang's imprisonment,[181][182]?and events leading to?Captain America: Civil War.[8]?Also in July, Michael Douglas and executives from?Marvel Entertainment?rang the closing bell of the?New York Stock Exchange?in celebration of the release of?Ant-Man.[183]?Disney spent $34.8 million on television advertising for the film, more than the $26.9 million spent forAvengers: Age of Ultron, since the former was a new property.[184]In December 2015, to commemorate the home media release of?Ant-Man,?Marvel UK?launched a website that offers visitors a view of various London landmarks from the perspective of an ant in a?Google Street View-type experience. The company commissioned photographer Will Pearson to capture ten different locations including?Tower Bridge,?Oxford Circus, the?British Museum,?St Paul's Cathedral?and?Nelson's Columnusing a 360° miniature camera that sat centimeters off of the ground.[185]Home media[edit]Ant-Man?was released for?digital download?by?Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment?on November 17, 2015 and released on?Blu-ray,?Blu-ray 3D, and?DVD?on December 8, 2015. The digital and Blu-ray releases include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel.[186]?Upon its first week of release on home media in the U.S., the film debuted at number two on the?Nielsen VideoScanFirst Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales, as well as the dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart, with 63% of unit sales coming from Blu-ray.[187]The film was also collected in the 13-disc?box set, titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection", which includes all of the?Phase Two?films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was released on December 8, 2015.[188]Reception[edit]Box office[edit]Ant-Man?grossed $180.2 million in North America and $339.0 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $519.3 million.[3]Ant-Man?made $6.4 million from its Thursday night showings in North America, with 48% of tickets sales for IMAX and other large-format showings, and $23.4 million on its opening day, including Thursday's previews,[189]?making it the second-lowest opening day for a Marvel film, only ahead of 2008's?The Incredible Hulk?($21.4 million).[190]?It fell 18% to earn $19.25 million on Saturday, and for its opening weekend total, earned $57.2 million.[189][191]?It marked the second-lowest debut for Marvel behind the $55.4 million debut of?The Incredible Hulk?in 2008.[192]?IMAX contributed $6.1 million to the opening gross, with premium large format screens comprising $6.4 million and?Cinemark XD?comprising $1.3 million, respectively. Though the film fell below its $60 million estimate, Disney nonetheless said it was content with the results, which continued Marvel's streak of number one opening films, giving the studio its twelfth consecutive win.[189]?Disney also reported that the film drew the largest share of families (28%) and women (32%) of any Marvel superhero title.[192]?It was also the biggest live-action opening ever for Rudd (breaking?Knocked Up?'?s record of $30.7 million) and a record opening for Douglas.[189]?It continued to be the top film at the box office in its second weekend.[193]Outside North America, it earned $55.4 million in its opening weekend from 37 countries, debuting in third place at the international box office behind the Chinese film?Monster Hunt?and?Minions?as well as an IMAX opening of $9.1 million. The top openings were the UK ($6 million), Mexico ($5.6 million), and Russia ($4.9 million). It had the biggest opening for a first-installment Marvel film in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.[194]?The film's opening in South Korea in early September 2015 earned $9.3 million, the highest opening for an international market at the time,[195]?before being surpassed by the Chinese opening in mid-October 2015, which earned $42.4 million, with $5.1 million coming from IMAX. The large opening weekend in China helped?Ant-Man?place first at the international box office for the first time, with the Chinese opening the second largest for an MCU film in the country behind?Avengers: Age of Ultron.[196][197]?The film stayed at number one in China for a second week, earning an additional $22 million.[198]?As of November 1, 2015, the largest markets are China with $101.3 million, followed by the UK with $25.4 million, and South Korea with $18.9 million.[199][200]Critical response[edit]The?review aggregator?website?Rotten Tomatoes?reported an 80% approval rating, based on 249 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads, "Led by a charming performance from Paul Rudd,?Ant-Man?offers Marvel thrills on an appropriately smaller scale – albeit not as smoothly as its most successful predecessors."[201]?On?Metacritic, the film has an average score of 64 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[202]?CinemaScore?reported that audiences gave the film an "A" grade on an A+ to F scale.[189]Justin Chang of?Variety?said the film "succeeds well enough as a genial diversion and sometimes a delightful one, predicated on the rarely heeded Hollywood wisdom that less really can be more."[203]?Todd McCarthyof?The Hollywood Reporter?remarked, "Although the story dynamics are fundamentally silly and the family stuff, with its parallel father-daughter melodrama, is elemental button-pushing, a good cast led by a winning Paul Rudd puts the nonsense over in reasonably disarming fashion."[204]?Kenneth Turan?of the?Los Angeles Times?wrote, "Playful in unexpected ways and graced with a genuinely off-center sense of humor,?Ant-Man(engagingly directed by Peyton Reed) is light on its feet the way the standard-issue Marvel behemoths never are."[205]?Kim Newman?of?Empire?wrote that it "straddles as many genres as the Avengers films have characters but manages to do most of them pretty well. Extremely likable, with a few moments of proper wonder."[206]?A. O. Scott?of?The New York Times?said, "This film is a passable piece of drone work from the ever-expanding Marvel-Disney colony."[207]Conversely, Alonso Duralde of?TheWrap?said the film "serves up jokes that don't land and thrills that don't thrill."[208]?Richard Roeper?of the?Chicago Sun-Times?said?Ant-Man?"is a lightweight, cliché-riddled origins story that veers between inside-joke comedy, ponderous redemption story lines and admittedly nifty CGI sequences that still seem relatively insignificant compared to the high stakes and city-shattering destruction that take place in most of the?Avengers?movies."[209]?Catherine Shoard of?The Guardian?wrote, "Ant-Man?is a cut-and-shut muddle, haunted by [Edgar Wright's] ghost, produced by a high-end hot dog factory, by turns giddying and stupefying."[210]?Joe Morgenstern of?The Wall Street Journal?said that it is "a film that will surely be popular, given Marvel's marketing might, but one that's woefully short on coherence and originality."[211]?Christopher Orr?of?The Atlantic?said, "It's difficult to shake the sense that the film was assembled hurriedly and somewhat haphazardly. Which, from all available evidence, is exactly what happened."[212]Accolades[edit]YearAward / Film FestivalCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef(s)2015Teen Choice AwardsChoice Summer Movie Star: MalePaul RuddNominated[213]Choice Summer Movie Star: FemaleEvangeline LillyNominated2016American Cinema Editors AwardsBest Edited Feature Film – Comedy or MusicalDan Lebental and Colby Parker, JrPending2016Critics' Choice AwardsBest Actor in an Action MoviePaul RuddPending[214]Sequel[edit]In June 2015, Reed stated, "If we were lucky enough to be able to do a sequel or even a prequel, I'd be way into it. I've really fallen in love with these characters... [T]here's a lot of story to tell with Hank Pym."[215]?In July 2015, Douglas expressed the desire to have his wife?Catherine Zeta-Jones?play Janet van Dyne,[216]?while Lilly hoped to see?Michelle Pfeiffer?in the role.[217]?Douglas also revealed he was not signed for any additional films, but "would look forward to more if it comes my way".[218]?Also in July, Feige revealed that the studio had "a supercool idea for the next?Ant-Man?film, and if audiences want it, we'll find a place to do it."[38]?Reed also mentioned that there had been talks of doing a standalone adventure with Hank Pym as Ant-Man, possibly including the original opening to?Ant-Man?that featured Jordi Mollà, which had been cut from the final film. Eric Eisenberg of Cinema Blend opined that a standalone adventure with Pym and the cut sequence would be a good candidate to revive the?Marvel One-Shots?short film series.[145]?By the end of the month, Dastmalchian expressed interest in returning for a sequel.[40]?In October 2015, Marvel Studios confirmed that a sequel, titled?Ant-Man and the Wasp, is scheduled for release on July 6, 2018.[219]?By late October, Reed entered negotiations to direct the sequel,[220]?and was confirmed to return in November 2015, along with Rudd and Lilly.[221]?Barrer, Ferrari and Rudd were confirmed to write the screenplay in December 2015.[222]Maze Runner Scorch Trials Maze Runner: The Scorch TrialsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaMaze Runner: The Scorch TrialsTheatrical release posterDirected byWes BallProduced byEllen Goldsmith-VeinWyck GodfreyMarty BowenLee StollmanJoe Hartwick Jr.Screenplay byT.S. NowlinBased onThe Scorch Trials?by?James DashnerStarringDylan O'BrienKaya ScodelarioThomas Brodie-SangsterDexter DardenGiancarlo EspositoAlexander FloresAidan GillenKi Hong LeeJacob LoflandBarry PepperRosa SalazarLili TaylorAlan TudykPatricia ClarksonMusic byJohn Paesano[1]CinematographyGyula PadosEdited byDan ZimmermanProductioncompanyGotham GroupTemple Hill EntertainmentDistributed by20th Century FoxRelease datesSeptember?18,?2015(United States)Running time131 minutes[2]CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$61 million[3]Box office$312.2 million[4]Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials?(also known simply as?The Scorch Trials) is a 2015 American?dystopian?science fiction?action?thriller film?based on?James Dashner's novel?The Scorch Trials, the second novel in?The Maze Runner?book series. The film is the?sequel?to the 2014 film?The Maze Runner?and the second installment in?The Maze Runner?film series. It was directed by?Wes Ball, with a screenplay by T.S. Nowlin. Adding to the original film's cast of?Dylan O'Brien,?Thomas Brodie-Sangster,?Ki Hong Lee,?Kaya Scodelario, and?Patricia Clarkson, the new supporting cast includes?Rosa Salazar,?Jacob Lofland,?Giancarlo Esposito,?Aidan Gillen,?Barry Pepper,?Lili Taylor?and?Alan Tudyk.The plot of?The Scorch Trials?takes place immediately after the previous installment, with Thomas (O'Brien) and his fellow Gladers battling the powerful organization W.C.K.D, while facing the perils of the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with dangerous obstacles. Filming began in?Albuquerque, New Mexico?on October 27, 2014, and officially concluded on January 27, 2015.Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials?was released in select international territories starting September 9, 2015 in 2D,?3D,?4DX?and?Barco Escape, and was released on September 18, 2015 in the United States in 2D and Premium Large Format theaters, by?20th Century Fox. It was originally set to be released in?IMAX, but this was cancelled, as?Everest?had all worldwide IMAX screens booked until the release of the film?The Walk.?The Scorch Trials?received mixed reviews, with some critics calling it an improvement over its predecessor – commending its action sequences and performances – while others criticized the film for its lack of plot and character advancement. Like its predecessor, the film was a commercial success grossing $30.3 million on its opening weekend, making it the ninth-highest grossing debut in September.[4]?The film went to the number one spot at the box office during its opening weekend, and has grossed $312 million worldwide.The concluding entry, titled?Maze Runner: The Death Cure, is scheduled to be released on February 17, 2017.Contents??[hide]?1Plot2Cast3Production3.1Pre-production3.2Casting3.3Filming3.4Soundtrack4Release4.1Marketing4.2Home video5Reception5.1Box office5.1.1North America5.1.2Outside North America5.2Critical response5.3Accolades6Sequel7References8External linksPlot[edit]The film starts with hundreds of people crowded around a quarantined area. A young Thomas is brought by his mother to be taken away for protection onboard a train. She tells him she loves him and they never see each other again. On the train, Thomas meets Dr. Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson) and troops from the organization WCKD, alongside other children, after being dropped off by his mother for his own safety. The film cuts to a point years later, shortly have passed since the the events of?The Maze Trials. Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) a 16-year-old former Creator of the Maze Runner last male to enter the Glade, Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) a 16-year-old, former Second-in-command of the Gladers and runner, Minho (Ki Hong Lee) a 17-year-old, former Keeper of the Runners, Teresa Agnes (Kaya Scodelario) a 17-year-old first and only female Glader, and the other two Gladers Frypan (Dexter Darden) a 16/17-year-old, Keeper of the Cooks and Winston ([[Alexander Flores (actor)|Alexander Flores) the Keeper of the Slicers being taken to a facility run by Mr. Janson (Aidan Gillen). He explains that the facility is a safe haven, protecting them from WCKD, the Flare virus and the Cranks, and provides them clothes, food, and sanitation, where other survivors of multiple mazes are also present. Thomas becomes curious about their activities and manages to find out what is really happening behind the closed doors. With help from Aris Jones (Jacob Lofland), the first maze survivor to end up in the facility, it is revealed that WCKD's leader, Ava, is still alive and that Mr. Janson is working for WCKD, as they discuss about the experiment on the Immunes and that Janson has yet to find The Right Arm, a resistance group located at the mountains. The group, including Aris, escapes the facility, as Janson orders his WCKD troops to track them down, where they find themselves in the deserted outside world - the Scorch.The group arrive at an abandoned marketplace, where they first encounter with the Cranks, humans zombified by the Flare virus. In the process, Winston gets infected by one of them. When morning comes, they find the city has turned into ruins and that WCKD is still searching for them. Winston's infection gets worse, forcing the rest of the group to leave him alone to die by shooting himself, preventing his transformation. As group continues to venture the desert until one night, while sleeping in the middle of the desert, Thomas awakens and discovers civilization from far away. As a thunderstorm emerges, they run to an abandoned facility to keep them from the storm. Minho gets struck by the lightning, but he survives. They manage to enter the place, only to find out that the facility they entered was filled with chained Cranks. The group meets Brenda (Rosa Salazar) and Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito), who lead a dangerous band of survivors and have used the Cranks as their own guard dogs. When the two find that the group had come from WCKD and is looking for the Right Arm, the two agree to take them to the Right Arm, abandoning their group of survivors. Moments later, WCKD, led by Janson, storms the place, only for the facility to be destroyed by Jorge's explosives, however, Thomas and Brenda are left behind as the rest have escaped with Jorge. Thomas and Brenda manage to escape the Cranks, only for Brenda to get infected by a Crank in the process. Thomas experiences a flashback of when he and Teresa were working for WCKD, in which Thomas tries to warn Teresa of WCKD's plans, only for the two to be separated by WCKD's troops. As Thomas and Brenda reunite with the rest of the group, Jorge interrogates Marcus (Alan Tudyk), a survivor who secretly works for WCKD, into revealing the whereabouts of The Right Arm.The group eventually arrive at The Right Arm's relief camps, where other innocent survivors are present, and are greeted by Vince (Barry Pepper) who leads the Right Arm and is in charge of deciding whether they can stay or not. As Brenda's infection gets worse, Vince threatens to shoot Brenda, only to be stopped by Mary Cooper (Lili Taylor), a former WCKD scientist who reveals that Thomas was their informant. As Mary halts Brenda's infection using an enzyme cure, Mary explains that the enzyme can only be harvested from an Immune's body, not manufactured, and that arguments over the methods of manufacturing the cure with Ava lead Mary's departure from WCKD. That evening, Teresa calls WCKD of her location, believing that WCKD's motivations are good, leading to an ambush by WCKD. Ava and Janson arrive and confront the Right Arm before WCKD troops capture survivors for experimentation, including Minho, while Janson shoots Mary dead. After Thomas and the Right Arm fend the WCKD troops off, Ava, Janson and Teresa retreat with their captured survivors. With only a fraction of survivors left at the site, Thomas plans an infiltration into WCKD and is determined to take them down to save his friends and save civilization, as his friends and the Right Arm agree to help and prepare to fight back.Cast[edit]Dylan O'Brien?as ThomasThomas Brodie-Sangster?as NewtKi Hong Lee?as MinhoKaya Scodelario?as Teresa AgnesRosa Salazar?as BrendaJacob Lofland?as Aris JonesGiancarlo Esposito?as JorgeAidan Gillen?as JansonDexter Darden?as FrypanAlexander Flores?as WinstonPatricia Clarkson?as Ava PaigeLili Taylor?as Mary CooperBarry Pepper?as VinceAlan Tudyk?as MarcusNathalie Emmanuel?as HarrietKatherine McNamara?as SonyaKathryn Smith-McGlynn as Dr. CrawfordLuke Gallegos as Young ThomasLora Cunningham as Thomas' MotherProduction[edit]Pre-production[edit]On October 13, 2013, almost a year before?The Maze Runner's release, it was reported that?Fox?had started work on?The Scorch Trials. It was revealed that T.S. Nowlin - who recently worked on the?Fantastic Fourreboot?- would adapt?Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, taking over from?Noah Oppenheim, with returning director Wes Ball supervising Nowlin's script.The early development of?Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials?suggested to many that Fox was confident in the potential success of?The Maze Runner.[5][6]?On November 19, 2014,?John Paesano?was confirmed to return to score the film.[1]?Creature designer Ken Barthelmey returned to design the creatures for the film.[7]Casting[edit]On September 26, 2014,?Aidan Gillen?was cast as the main antagonist of the film, Janson, also known as Rat-Man.[8]?On September 30, 2014, Rosa Salazar signed on to the cast as Brenda.[9]?Within the next few days,?Mud?star?Jacob Lofland[10]?and?Breaking Bad?star?Giancarlo Esposito[11]?joined the cast, playing Aris Jones and Jorge, respectively.?Game of Thrones?star?Nathalie Emmanuel?was cast as Harriet, co-leader of Group B, on October 22, 2014,[12]?and?Katherine McNamara?as the other co-leader on December 22.[13]?On November 3, 2014, there were two additions to the cast, with?Lili Taylor?as Mary Cooper, a "doctor who helps Thomas and the Gladers",[14]?and?Barry Pepper?as Vince, "a survivalist who is one of the last remaining soldiers of a legendary unit called the Right Arm".[15]Filming[edit]On July 25, 2014, Ball announced at?San Diego Comic-Con International?that the studio wants to start shooting in fall 2014, should its predecessor become a success when it hits theatres.[16]On August 31, 2014, Ball announced they are "about nine weeks out from shooting". He also revealed "we are in New Mexico right now. We’ve got a crew and stages. We are rapidly approaching our shoot time. The sets are being built. A lot of the same crew is coming back. Most of the cast is coming back, except for the ones who were killed [in the first film]. The script is really coming along".[17]?A week later, Ball told?BuzzFeedthat “we’ve got stages, we’ve got crews coming in, Dylan [O’Brien] will be back in a few weeks, we’re building sets, and the script is being written. It’s a bit of a race this time because we’re cautiously optimistic, but we’re feeling excited we’re about to do something that’s way more sophisticated, way more grown up, and really set up a saga here.”[18]Principal photography?commenced on October 27, 2014 in and around?Albuquerque, New Mexico.[8][19][20]?Filming finished on January 27, 2015, lasting 94 days.[21][22]Soundtrack[edit]Composed by?John Paesano, the soundtrack was released on September 11, 2015.[23]Release[edit]On August 31, 2014, Ball revealed he is hoping "the movie will be out in about a year".[17]?On September 21, 2014, it was announced the film would be released on September 18, 2015 in the United States.[24]?The film was released in?Barco's multi-screen immersive movie format Barco Escape in across 25 countries with approximately 20 minutes of the film converted into the format.[25]?It was also released in the?Dolby Visionformat in?Dolby Cinema?in North America.[26]Marketing[edit]At?San Diego Comic-Con International?2014, Ball released the first piece of concept art for the film.[27]?Six stills were released on March 11, 2015.[28][29]The first official trailer was released on April 23, 2015, at?20th Century Fox's CinemaCon.[30]?However, it was not released online at the same time, but the 1 minute and 44 second teaser trailer premiered beforePitch Perfect 2?in May 2015.[31]?The trailer was released publicly on May 19, 2015.[32][33]?On July 10, 2015, a 30-minute sneak peek was screened at San Diego Comic Con International, with Ball, Dashner, and O'Brien also at the screening.Home video[edit]The Scorch Trials?was released on?Blu-Ray?and?DVD?on December 15, 2015.[34]Reception[edit]Box office[edit]As of January 4, 2016,?Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials?has grossed $81.6 million in North America and $230.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $312 million, against a budget of $61 million.[4]North America[edit]In the United States and Canada, the film opened simultaneously with the crime films?Black Mass?and?Captive. Preliminary reports predicted the film to open with takings of around $34–36 million.[35][36]?It made $1.7 million from its late night screenings—55% ahead of the first film's $1.1 million—from 2,900 theaters[37][38]?and an estimated $11 million on its opening day, which is lower than its predecessor's opening day.[39]?It finished off the weekend with $30.3 million from 3,796 theaters which is lower than its predecessor's $32.5 million (-7%) opening in 2014. Nevertheless, the film opened at No. 1 at the box office ahead of its competitor?Black Mass.[40]?Premium large formats comprised $2.75 million (9%) of the opening gross from 270 PLF screens, while Cinemark XD contributed $825,000 of that figure in 87 screens.[41]?The film relied on younger audiences, with 65 percent of the audience under the age of 25 and females making up 53 percent ticket buyers.[40]?Also noteworthy was that Fox didn't have the IMAX screens like it did with the first installment, as they were all devoted to?Everest?which was getting a week-long "sneak preview" release in IMAX and large-format screens. But they did have 270 PLF screens, which made up 9% of the overall gross.[42]??reported that Fox was nevertheless happy about the result.[41]?The franchise follows a similar trajectory to?The Divergent Series?which dipped slightly from its?first installment?($54.6 million) tosecond?($52.2 million) earlier this year.[43]?Still, both the movies prove "the consistency of the young-adult audience," says Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak's senior analyst. "They're not growing at a huge rate, but we're also not seeing a massive drop-off."[43]?In its second weekend, the film fell by 53% to $14 million slipping in third place behind?Hotel Transylvania 2?($47.5 million) and?The Intern?($18.2 million). In comparison,?The Maze Runner?dropped 46% in its second weekend earning $17.4 million in 2014.?The Scroch Trails?'?s 10 day gross stood af $51.69 million in relation to its predecessor's $57.9 million 10 day.[44]Outside North America[edit]Internationally,?The Scorch Trials?was released in a total of 76 countries.[45]?It was released overseas a week before it opened in the U.S., and earned $26.7 million in its opening weekend from 21 markets in 5,586 screens and in all markets, outperforming its predecessor. It debuted at second place at the international box office, behind?Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.[46]?In its second weekend, it expanded to 41 additional markets and earned a total of $43.2 million from 12,699 screens in 66 markets, opening at No. 1 in 34 of the 41 markets as well as topping the international box office charts.[47]?In South Korea, it had the biggest opening for Fox of 2015 with $7.2 million from 804 screens. That's 41% higher than its predecessor's opening.[47]?France posted the highest opening for the film with $8.5 million followed by South Korea ($7.2 million) Russia and the CIS ($5.2 million), the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($4.9 million), and Mexico ($4.4 million).[45][47][48]?In terms of total earning, its largest market outside of the U.S. are South Korea ($18 million), France ($18.9 million) and the United Kingdom ($12.9 million).[45][49][50][51]?It opened in China—it's last market—on November 4[45][52]?and grossed an estimated $19.77 million on 4,945 screens in its five opening weekend ($14.6 million over three days) which is 60% above its's predecessor's opening.[53][54]?It has grossed a total of $28.8 million in China.[55]Critical response[edit]Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials?received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator?Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 48%, based on 120 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials?is an action-packed sequel at the cost of story, urgency, and mystery that the original offered."[56]?Metacritic?gives the film a score of 43 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[57]?Audiences surveyed by?CinemaScore?gave the film a grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[58]The main criticisms of the film were its narrative, particularly its changes from the source material, and lack of character development.[59][60]?Forbes?said the film suffered from "middle movie syndrome", claiming that it did not offer an introduction nor a finale.[61]?The Wrap?stated that, "it doesn’t offer much plot or character development".[62]?Stephen Kelly of?Total Film?said, "Scorch Trials?ambitiously opens up its world with mixed results: gripping action, so-so script."[63]?Walter Addiego of?San Francisco Chronicle?said, "there’s lots of eye candy, and the pace is fast, but somehow the movie falls short."[64]However, some critics considered it to be an improvement over its predecessor, highlighting its action sequences and performances.[65][66]?John Williams of?New York Times?wrote, "the many chases and ludicrous narrow escapes offer respectable doses of adrenaline",[67]?and Brian Truitt of?USA Today?said, "Maze Runner?'?s action, suspense and twists give movie fans of all ages a chance to embrace their inner on-the-run teenager."[68]?Rafer Guzman of?Newsday?said, "the teen dystopian franchise continues to play rough, and now even rougher, with satisfying results."[69]?Bilge Ebiri of?Vulture?said "essentially,?The Scorch Trials?makes up for the humdrum YApocalypse of its first half by going a little bonkers in its second."[70]Accolades[edit]List of awards and nominationsYearAwardCategoryRecipientsResult2016People's Choice AwardsFavorite Action MovieFavorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy MovieMaze Runner: The Scorch TrialsNominatedSequel[edit]In March 2015, it was confirmed that Nowlin, who co-wrote the first and wrote the second film, has been set to adapt the third book,?The Death Cure.[71]?Ball confirmed that, if he returns to direct, the film will not besplit into two films.[72]?On July 9, 2015, it was revealed that filming is set to begin in February 2016.[73]?On September 16, 2015, it was confirmed that Ball would return to direct the third film.[74]?Maze Runner: The Death Cure?is scheduled for release on February 17, 2017.[75]The MartianThe Martian?(film)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe MartianTheatrical release posterDirected byRidley ScottProduced bySimon KinbergRidley ScottAditya SoodMichael SchaeferMark HuffamScreenplay byDrew GoddardBased onThe Martian?by?Andy WeirStarringMatt DamonJessica ChastainKristen WiigJeff DanielsMichael Pe?aKate MaraSean BeanSebastian StanAksel HennieChiwetel EjioforMusic byHarry Gregson-WilliamsCinematographyDariusz WolskiEdited byPietro ScaliaProductioncompaniesScott Free ProductionsKinberg GenreTSG EntertainmentDistributed by20th Century FoxRelease datesSeptember?11,?2015(TIFF)October?2,?2015(United States)Running time141 minutes[1]CountryUnited States[2]LanguageEnglishBudget$108 million[3]Box office$595.3 million[4]The Martian?is a 2015 American?science fiction film?directed by?Ridley Scott?and starring?Matt Damon. The film is based on?Andy Weir's 2011 novel?The Martian, which was adapted into a screenplay by?Drew Goddard. Damon stars as an astronaut who is mistakenly presumed dead and left behind on?Mars. The film depicts his struggle to survive and others' efforts to rescue him. The film also features?Jessica Chastain,?Kristen Wiig,?Jeff Daniels,?Michael Pe?a,?Kate Mara,?Sean Bean,?Sebastian Stan,Aksel Hennie, and?Chiwetel Ejiofor?in supporting roles.Producer?Simon Kinberg?began developing the film after?20th Century Fox?optioned?the novel in March 2013.?Drew Goddard?adapted the novel into a screenplay and was initially attached to direct, but the film did not move forward. Scott replaced Goddard, and with Damon in place as the main character, production was?green-lit. Filming began in November 2014 and lasted approximately 70 days. Around 20 sets were built on a sound stage in?Budapest,?Hungary, one of the largest in the world.Wadi Rum?in?Jordan?was also used as a practical backdrop for filming.The film premiered at the?2015 Toronto International Film Festival?on September 11, 2015. 20th Century Fox released the film in theaters in the United States on October 2, 2015. The film was released in 2D,?3D,?IMAX 3D?and?4DX.[5]?The film received positive reviews and has grossed over $596 million worldwide, becoming Scott's highest-grossing film to date, as well as?the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2015.Contents??[hide]?1Plot2Cast3Production3.1Development3.2Filming3.3NASA involvement4Music5Marketing6Release6.1Box office forecast6.2Theatrical run6.3Critical response6.4Accolades6.4.1Top ten lists7Casting controversy8Scientific accuracy9See also10Notes11References12External linksPlot[edit]In the year 2035,[6]?the crew of the Ares III?manned mission to Mars?is on?Sol?18 of their 31-sol expedition on the surface, when a severe?dust storm?forces them to abort the mission and return to their orbiting vessel?Hermes. During the evacuation, astronaut Mark Watney is struck by flying debris and is lost in the storm; the last telemetry from his suit indicates that it has lost pressure, with no life signs. With their launch vehicle on the verge of tipping over in the wind, and the remaining crew's lives in peril, mission commander Melissa Lewis gives the order to launch without retrieving him; they subsequently leave Mars aboard the?Hermes.With the storm over, Watney later awakes to the sound of a low-oxygen warning. Injured, he makes his way to the "Hab", the crew's living quarters and base of operations on Mars. He removes a piece of antenna which had impaled his belly and damaged his biomonitor - the antenna and his coagulated blood provided a temporary seal, saving his life as well as causing his failed life-sign readings. He realizes that his only chance of rescue will be the arrival of the Ares IV crew in four years. Calculating that he has enough food to last only 300 sols (Martian solar days), he improvises a farm in the Hab by making Martian soil fertilized with vaccuum packed toilet waste, after finding whole potatoes saved for a Thanksgiving meal, and water produced by extracting hydrogen from leftover rocket fuel then oxidized by burning. He keeps a series of video logs to maintain morale and begins to modify the one functional rover to increase capacity to make long journeys across Mars' vast terrains.While reviewing satellite photos of Mars, Mars mission director Vincent Kapoor and satellite planner Mindy Park realize that Watney has survived, and immediately start planning to establish contact. Over the objections of?Hermes?flight director Mitch Henderson, NASA director Teddy Sanders decides not to inform the remaining crew of Ares III of Watney's survival, believing it would distract them from their remaining mission and endanger them. To restore communication with Earth, Watney takes the rover on a medium-range mission to retrieve the?Pathfinder?probe, which went silent in 1997. Using the lander's rotating still camera, Watney and the?JPL?team establish rudimentary communication. The NASA team instructs Watney on how to modify the rover to link up with Pathfinder, allowing them to communicate using typed text messaging. In one of Watney's first messages to JPL, he asks what the rest of the crew said when they found out he was alive. He is told the crew has not yet been informed of his survival, and Watney's visceral reaction prompts Sanders to authorize telling the crew of Watney's status, which they are informed of in a video message from Henderson.As Watney continues to grow his crop, Henderson and JPL director Bruce Ng formulate a plan to send a?space probe?to Mars and resupply Watney with enough food to allow him to survive until Ares IV's scheduled arrival. Watney suffers a disaster when the airlock on the habitat explosively decompresses, killing his potatoes and reducing his projected supply of food. The team on Earth desperately tries to reduce the time needed to prepare the resupply, resulting in Sanders deciding to skip safety inspections, which backfires when the probe, christened?Iris, explodes shortly after liftoff.The?China National Space Administration?(CNSA) offers NASA a lifeline: the?Taiyang Shen, a classified?booster?that can carry a payload to Mars; NASA begins preparing an even more hasty supply mission using it. Meanwhile, JPL astrodynamicist Rich Purnell figures out a?trajectory?which could send?Hermes?back to Mars much more quickly, using the Chinese booster to instead resupply it for the necessary additional year and a half in space. Because both plans require the same booster, only one can be used; Sanders chooses the first plan, refusing to risk the lives of the?Hermes?crew. Henderson objects, and surreptitiously sends the details of Purnell's plan to?Hermes. Lewis and her crew vote unanimously to execute the plan, and NASA – powerless to stop them – proceeds with the resupply as?Hermes?flies by Earth, using its gravity to slingshot them back to Mars.After 461 sols, Watney leaves the Hab, beginning a 3200km, 90-sol journey to?Schiaparelli crater, where the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) for the Ares IV mission was previously landed. In order to rendezvous withHermes' fly-by, Watney must make drastic modifications to reduce its mass, removing non-essential equipment including the vessel's windows, nosecone, and exterior panels. With Watney on board the gutted MAV, the?Hermes?crew launches it remotely; it escapes Mars successfully, but not at the planned speed and distance. To intercept,?Hermes?must use its maneuvering thrusters to change course, and explosive decompression of its own internal atmosphere to adjust its speed. Lewis uses a?MMU?to approach Watney's vessel as close as her tether will allow, but is unable to reach him. Watney pierces the glove of his pressure suit and leaves the capsule, using the escaping air as a miniature thruster to reach Lewis. The crew is emotionally re-united, as crowds around the world cheer the news.After returning to Earth, Watney begins "day 1" of his new life, serving as a survival instructor for new candidates in the astronaut training program, emphasizing his own experiences in problem-solving and creative engineering. Years later on the occasion of the Ares V mission launch, those involved in Watney's rescue have returned to their lives or begun new lives.Cast[edit]Matt Damon?and?Jessica Chastain?star as Mark Watney and Melissa Lewis respectivelyMatt Damon?as Mark Watney, a botanist who is part of the Ares III team, presumed dead after a violent storm on Mars. Watney is then forced to use his ingenuity and wit to find a way home.Jessica Chastain?as Melissa Lewis, a geologist and the Ares III mission commander.Kristen Wiig?as Annie Montrose, the director of media relations for NASA. She is primarily concerned with the public perception of NASA during the Watney rescue.Jeff Daniels?as Theodore "Teddy" Sanders, the NASA director. Sanders is shown to be competent but averse to unnecessary risks.Michael Pe?a?as Major Rick Martinez, the pilot of the Ares III mission. He is the closest of the Ares III team to Watney.Kate Mara?as Beth Johanssen, the Ares III's system operator. She has romantic feelings for Beck.Sean Bean?as Mitch Henderson, the Ares III's mission director. His priority at all times is the welfare and stability of the Ares III crew.Sebastian Stan?as Dr. Chris Beck, an astronaut and flight surgeon for the Ares III mission. He has romantic feelings for Johannsen.Aksel Hennie?as Dr. Alex Vogel, a German national who is the navigator and chemist.Chiwetel Ejiofor?as Vincent Kapoor, NASA's Mars mission director, and the first person to establish contact with Watney.Donald Glover?as Rich Purnell, a JPL astrodynamicist who devises the plan to save Watney.Benedict Wong?as Bruce Ng, director of?JPL, charged with constructing the rockets and payloads for the rescue mission.Mackenzie Davis?as Mindy Park, a satellite planner in Mission Control, the first person to realise that Watney is alive.Eddy Ko?as Guo Ming, chief scientist at CNSAChen Shu?as Zhu Tao, deputy chief scientist at CNSANaomi Scott?as RyokoNick Mohammed?as Tim GrimesChastain prepared for her role by meeting with astronauts and scientists at the?Jet Propulsion Laboratory?and the?Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. She was inspired by astronaut?Tracy Caldwell Dyson, saying "She's very matter of fact, very straightforward. My character is dealing with the guilt of leaving a crew member behind, but she's still responsible for the lives of five other crew mates. I tried to play her as Tracy would have been in those moments."[7]Damon did not prepare as Chastain did. He explained, "For me the rehearsal process was sitting with Ridley and going kind of line-by-line and moment-by-moment through the script and playing out a plan of attack for what we wanted each scene to accomplish."[8]Production[edit]Director?Ridley Scott?says he became interested in sci-fi in 1977, after seeing?Star Wars?at?TCL Chinese Theatre?in Hollywood.[9]Ridley Scott?– director, producerSimon Kinberg?– producerMichael Schaefer?– producerAditya Sood?– producerMark Huffam?– producerDrew Goddard?– screenwriterAndy Weir?– author (source material)Dariusz Wolski?– cinematographerArthur Max?– production designerJanty Yates?– costume designerPietro Scalia?– editorHarry Gregson-Williams?– music composerDevelopment[edit]Ares III?mission landing site(Acidalia Planitia?region)Mark Watney's route on MarsThe Martian?was directed by?Ridley Scott?and based on a screenplay by?Drew Goddard?that was adapted from?Andy Weir's 2011 novel?The Martian. The studio?20th Century Fox?optioned?the novel in March 2013, and producer?Simon Kinberg?was attached to develop the novel into a film.[10]?In the following May, Goddard entered negotiations with the studio to write and direct?The Martian.[11]?Goddard wrote a screenplay for the film,[12]?and?Matt Damon?expressed interest in starring under Goddard's direction. Goddard then pursued an opportunity to directSinister Six, a comic book film about?a team of supervillains.[13]?Kinberg then brought the book to Ridley Scott's attention.[14]?In May 2014, Scott entered negotiations with the studio to direct the film with Damon cast as the film's stranded astronaut.[15]?Scott said he was attracted by the emphasis on science and thought a balance could be struck between entertainment and learning. Damon said he was attracted by the novel, the screenplay and the opportunity to work with Scott.[16]?Following Scott's commitment, the project picked up the pace and was quicklygreen-lighted.[17]?Goddard has since expressed that he felt Scott made a much better film than he could have directed, telling?Creative Screenwriting, "When it’s Ridley Scott, collaboration is easy because I just revere him. Every day I would just look around and think, 'Is that really Ridley Scott sitting there at the table? This is exciting!'"[18]Filming[edit]Wadi Rum?in?Jordan?was a practical backdrop for Mars in filming?The MartianKorda Studios?(in Hungarian: Korda Filmstúdió) 26 km west of?Budapest, Hungary?in the wine-making village of?Etyek?was chosen for filming interior scenes of?The Martian. It was favored for having one of the largest?sound stages?in the world.[19][20]?Filming began in Hungary on November 24, 2014.[21]?Ridley Scott chose to film?The Martian?with 3D cameras.[8]?Around 20 sets were constructed for?The Martian?(where 70 were built for Ridley Scott's?Exodus: Gods and Kings?and over 100 for?American Gangster).[20]?Actual?potatoes?were grown in a sound stage next to the one used for filming. They were planted at different times so that different stages of growth could be shown in film scenes.[22]?A team of six people built 15 suits for the film. A practical backdrop for Mars was filmed in?Wadi Rum, which is a UNESCO world heritage site located in?Jordan.[20][23]?Wadi Rum had been used as a location for other films set on Mars, including?Mission to Mars?(2000),?Red Planet?(2000), and?The Last Days on Mars?(2013).[24]?Filming lasted approximately 70 days.[20]?A special Mars rover model was built for the filming; the movie cast and team presented the rover model to Jordan in return for the hospitality they had received. The rover is now exhibited in Jordan'sRoyal Automobile Museum.[25][26]“The scenes back on Earth provide a hectic, densely populated counterweight to the Martian aridity, which is magnificently represented by exteriors shot in the vicinity of Wadi Rum in Jordan.”Andy Weir avoided writing Watney as lonely and depressed in his novel. While Watney's humor is preserved in the film, Scott also depicted the character's isolation in the vast, dusty Martian landscape. Damon said he and Scott were inspired by the 2003 documentary film?Touching the Void, which featured trapped mountain climbers.[27]?Scott also expected to film Watney as a?Robinson Crusoe, a character in full isolation, but learned to film Watney differently since the character would be self-monitoring his behavior under the watch of various mission cameras.[22]According to Ridley Scott, first cut of the movie was 2 hours and 45 minutes long.[28]?Scott also confirmed that an extended cut of the movie will be released on home video.[29]NASA involvement[edit]Damon while making hand prints in cement at the?Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is accompanied by Jim Erickson (left) and?Andrew J. Feustel(right).When the novel was first published,?NASA?invited Andy Weir to tour the?Johnson Space Center?and?Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When Ridley Scott began preparing the film, Weir contacted NASA to collaborate on the film.[30]?When Scott and producer Mark Huffam had their first production meeting, they called NASA and spoke with its film and television liaison Bert Ulrich.[31]?NASA decided to assist the filmmakers with depicting the science and technology in?The Martian?since it saw potential in promoting space exploration.[30]?Key NASA staff members that joined the partnership were?James L. Green, the Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA, and?Dave Lavery, the Program Executive for Solar System Exploration.[31]?Scott conversed with Green twice before filming started. Over a period of a month, NASA answered hundreds of questions—on a weekly basis—on everything from radioisotope systems to the look of potential "habs"—the residences for future Mars astronauts. The questions were answered by Green or passed on to the right expert, and then came back to Scott's team to make their way into the production.[32][33]?The space agency also sent hundreds of files of real images of Mars and images of control centers, down to what the computer screens look like, to the production team.[34]?Green arranged a tour of the?Johnson Space Center?inHouston?for production designer?Arthur Max, who met with individual specialists, taking hundreds of photos as he went for eight hours.[34][32]?The production designers created a futuristic, heavily modernised Mission Control as a studio set;?Ars Technica?described its depiction as "the space agency that we all dream of" and the opposite of the real Johnson Center's appearance as "a run down college campus."[35]Newsweek?said NASA collaborated more with?The Martian?than most other films: "Staff from many NASA departments consulted on the film, from script development through principal photography, and are now helping with marketing timed to the theatrical release."[31]?As part of the collaboration, the production's NASA liaison included the front page of the script for?The Martian?in the payload of the spacecraft?Orion?during its?Exploration Flight Test 1?on December 5, 2014.[36]The?Los Angeles Times?said NASA and the wider scientific community anticipated the film as a way to publicize a?human mission to Mars. The?New York Times?reports that the film "serves as a nice plug for NASA, which has returned the favor by pushing the movie on its website. (On Monday [September 28, 2015], scientists announced that signs of liquid water could be seen in photographs taken on Mars by a camera on theMars Reconnaissance Orbiter,[37][38]?timing that suggests NASA certainly has the whole cross-promotion thing down.)".[39]?Jim Erickson, NASA project manager, said the film would show moviegoers?"the risks and rewards" of humans traveling to Mars.[40]In October 2015, NASA presented a new web tool to follow Watney's trek across Mars,[41]?and details of NASA's next steps, as well as a?health hazards report,[42][43]?for a?real-world?human journey to Mars.[44][45][46]Music[edit]Harry Gregson-Williams?composed the?score?for?The Martian. It is the fourth collaboration between Gregson-Williams and Scott. Gregson-Williams previously worked on music for Scott's films?Kingdom of Heaven(2005),?Prometheus?(2012) and?Exodus: Gods and Kings?(2014).[47]A running gag in the film is mission commander Melissa Lewis's love for 1970s songs (especially of the?disco?genre), which are the only music available to Watney on Mars and often appear as?diegetic music. Non-original songs featured in the film include:[48]"Turn the Beat Around" by?Vicki Sue Robinson"Hot Stuff" by?Donna Summer"Rock the Boat" by?The Hues Corporation"Don't Leave Me This Way" by?Thelma Houston"Starman" by?David Bowie"Waterloo" by?ABBA"Love Train" by?The O'Jays"I Will Survive" by?Gloria Gaynor?(end credits)Marketing[edit]Studio?20th Century Fox?launched a?viral marketing?campaign for?The Martian.[49]?On June 7, 2015, NASA astronaut?Michael J. Massimino?shared an in-universe?video diary?depicting Matt Damon's character and the other crew members.[50][51]?Ars Technica?compared the video diary to similar viral videos marketed for Ridley Scott's 2012 film?Prometheus?in having a similar "style of slickly produced fictional promotional material". The studio then released an official trailer on June 8.[52]?Forbes?said, "20th Century Fox has cut together a pretty perfect trailer in that it absolutely makes the sale. It establishes the stakes, offers a sympathetic lead character, shows off an all-star cast, tosses out a potential catchphrase, and ends on a grimly humorous tagline."[53]?In response to the trailer,?Jimmy Kimmel, host of the late-night talk show?Jimmy Kimmel Live!, released a spoof trailer?The Mastronaut: Emission to Mars?that edited the original to parody the film.[54]As a part of promotional cooperation from?NASA, the space agency screenedThe Martian?at the?International Space Station?on September 19, 2015.At the start of August, Fox released another video, depicting interviews with each of the main crew members.[55]?Mid-month, the studio released another film trailer, and NASA hosted a "Martian Day" at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to both promote?The Martian?and highlight the space program's ongoing efforts to carry out a?human mission to Mars.[33]?At the end of August, Fox released another video, presenting it as a special episode of the TV show?StarTalk?in which astrophysicist?Neil deGrasse Tyson?discusses the hazards of traveling to Mars.[56]?In September, Ridley Scott's RSA Films released a teaser for?The Martian?that depicted Matt Damon wearing?Under Armour?sports clothing and being active in his off-world tasks.[57]?The teaser originated from a collaboration between RSA Films and the marketing shop 3AM (under theatrical advertising agency Wild Card), initiated in 2014, to produce advertising content for?The Martian. RSA contacted the advertising agency?Droga5, under whom Under Armour is a client.[58]?Droga5 ultimately collaborated with?WME?and 3AM to produce the teaser.[57]Forbes?'?s Peter Himler said American?astronauts?had traditionally been used by public relations to promote commercial products, starting with the drink?Tang. Himler said it "came as no surprise" that?NASA?astronauts in the?International Space Station?were reported by?The Guardian?and?CBS News?as having read Weir's novel and hoping to see the film on board the ISS.[59]?NASA participated in the marketing of the film despite its lack of involvement with previous films. Though it turned down a request for?Interstellar?to be screened on the ISS,[34]?The Martian?was screened on board[60]?402 km (250 miles) above the Earth's surface on September 19, 2015, and also at the?Johnson Space Center?in Houston, and at the?Kennedy Space Center?at?Cape Canaveral?on October 1, 2015.[34]Release[edit]Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Bozán Barroso at the?2015 Toronto International Film FestivalThe Martian?premiered at the?2015 Toronto International Film Festival?on September 11, 2015.[2]?The film screened in a sneak preview at the?New York Film Festival?on September 27, 2015.[61]?It also screened at?Fantastic Fest?in?Austin,?Texas, on September 29, 2015.[62][63]?The film was released in the?Dolby Vision?format in?Dolby Cinema?in North America.[64]Box office forecast[edit]Two months before?The Martian?'?s release,?BoxOffice?forecast that the film would gross?$46 million?on its opening weekend in the United States and ultimately?$172 million?in its theatrical run in the U.S. The magazine said positive factors for its performance included the continued sales of Andy Weir's novel, Ridley Scott's success with past science fiction films, and the positive reception of prior space-based films?Gravity?(2013) and?Interstellar?(2014). The magazine said negative factors included Matt Damon not being a consistent draw at the box office,?Gravity?and?Interstellar?setting high expectations, and Ridley Scott's "stumble" with his previous film?Exodus: Gods and Kings?(2014).[65]?A week before the film's release, pre-release trackings in North America (United States and Canada) showed that the film was on pace to earn between $40—50 million in its opening weekend from 3,826 theaters.[66]In comparison to other contemporary space films,?Gravity, facing far less competition, opened to a better-than-expected $55.8 million in 2013. In November 2014,?Interstellardebuted to $47.5 million.[66]?Unlike?Gravity?and?Interstellar, which had the benefit of IMAX locations, boosting profits,?The Martian?was not initially playing in IMAX, since IMAX has instead been committed to an exclusive run of?Robert Zemeckis'?The Walk.?The Martian?is playing in more than 350 premium large-format theaters including 2,550 3D locations.[66][67]?Also, the film was released several days after the announcement of?NASA's discovery of?water on Mars' planetary surface,[37][38]?which might have aided in boosting its opening.[68]?Ticket selling website?Fandango?reported that the film was outselling?Gravity.[68]?Unlike?Gravity,?The Martian?does not contain abundant 3D spectacle, and is longer than?Gravity, which means fewer showtimes.[69]Theatrical run[edit]As of January 4, 2016,?The Martian?has grossed $226.0 million in North America and $370.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $596.4 million, against a budget of $108 million.[4]The film was released in theaters in 2D and 3D.[70]?In the United Kingdom, it was released on September 30, 2015, a Wednesday,[71]?and in the United States on the following Friday, October 2, 2015.[72]?It was also released in 49 markets including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Hong Kong, India and Taiwan from the weekend October 2–4, 2015 and expanded to Germany, Russia, and South Korea the following weekend. It opened in Spain on October 16, then France on October 21. China opened on November 25 and Japan will bow in the first quarter next year on February 5.[73][74]?Various sites estimated the film to gross between$45 million?and?$50 million?over its opening weekend in the U.S.A.[75]?CinemaScore?polled sample audiences, who gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Audience demographics were 54% men and 59% over 35.[76]In the United States and Canada, it opened on Friday, October 2, 2015 and earned $18.06 million on its opening day of which $2 million came from premium large formats from 3,831 theaters.[77][78]?The film's Friday gross included a $2.5 million from late-night Thursday screenings that took place in 2,800 theaters.[79]?During its opening weekend, it earned $54.3 million from 3,831 theaters ranking first at the box office which is the second biggest October opening (behind?Gravity) and the second biggest for Scott (behind?Hannibal) and Damon (behind?The Bourne Ultimatum). The film made $6 million at 375 premium large format screens.[80]?3D accounted for 45% of the ticket sales while?RealD?3D accounted for 42% or $23 million of that sales which is one of highest for the 3D company in 2015.[80]?The film fell short of breaking?Gravity?'?s record which might have been hurt by?Hurricane Joaquin, the?NFL season?and the last day of the?Major League Baseball regular season.[80]?In its?second weekend of release, it dropped gradually by 31.9% and earned $37 million from 3,854 theaters (+23 theaters) maintaining the top position.?The Martian?'?s demographics in its sophomore weekend remained in sync with its opening frame drawing 52% males and 72% over 25.[81]?It topped the box office for two consecutive weekends before being dethroned by?Goosebumps?in its third weekend after a close race between the two.[82][83]?It returned to the top of the box office for the third time in its fourth weekend,[84]?and went on the top the box office for four non-consecutive weekends.[85]?On November 5, the film surpassed?Gladiator?($187.7 million) to become Scott's highest-grossing film at the domestic box office.[86]Internationally,?The Martian?will be released in a total of 81 countries.[87]?Outside North America, it opened on the same weekend in 54 markets and grossed $44.6 million from 9,299 screens topping the international box office as well as opening at No. 1 in over 15 markets.[73]?The following weekend, it added 23 more markets and grossed an estimated $57.5 million from 77 markets from 12,859 screens.[87]?Its opening weekends in South Korea ($12.5 million)[nb 1]?the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($10.2 million), Russia and the CIS ($7.4 million), France ($6.9 million), Australia ($4.5 million) and Germany ($4.3 million; behindInside Out) represented its largest takings.[73][87][89]?In terms of total earnings, the United Kingdom ($35.3 million), South Korea ($33.6 million), Australia ($16.57 million) and Germany ($16 million) are the top markets.[90][91]?In South Korea, it is Fox's third highest-grossing film ever behind?Avatar?and?Kingsman: The Secret Service.[90]?It topped the box office outside of North America for two consecutive weekends before being overtaken by?Ant-Man?in its third weekend[92]?but returned to the top in its fourth weekend.[89]?In its fifth weekend, it was surpassed by?Spectre?thereby topping the international box office for three weekends in total.[90]?The Martian?opened in China on Wednesday, November 25 and earned $50 million in its 5-day opening weekend from 4,848 screens of which $6.6 million came from 249 IMAX theaters.[93]?In its second weekend, it fell by 60% to $13.7 million.[94]?As of December 22, it has grossed a total of $91.5 million there.[95][96]?The last major market to come is Japan, where the film will open on February 5, 2016.[87]For the USA, the film was originally scheduled to be released on November 25, 2015, but 20th Century Fox switched?The Martian?with?Victor Frankenstein, so the former would be its first film for all audiences in the country's autumn season (September – November).[97]?On the film's 3D screenings, RealD's chief Anthony Marcoly said 3D technology was proliferating from action-packed?blockbuster?films commonly released in the United States' summer season. Marcoly said the technology was being used in more immersive storytelling, citing late 2015's?The Martian?and?The Walk?as two examples.[70]Critical response[edit]The Martian?received positive reviews when it premiered at the?Toronto International Film Festival.[98]?Variety?said, "Critics are calling the film a funny, thrilling ride, and a return to form for [Ridley] Scott after?The Counselor?and?Exodus: Gods and Kings?fell flat."[99]?Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregation website, said critics found Ridley Scott "examining more hopeful territory" in?The Martian?than in past films, "The result is an awe-inspiring adventure that explores vast ideas while staying grounded in very human emotional territory." Critics commended the visual effects, the scientific accuracy, and the film's likability largely due to Matt Damon's performance.[100]?The website, which categorizes reviews as positive or negative, surveyed 261 critics and determined that 93% of the reviews were positive with a rating average of 7.9 out of 10.[101]?The similar website?Metacritic?surveyed?46 critics?and assessed 40 reviews as positive and 6 as mixed. It gave an aggregate score of 80 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[102]According to?Robert Zubrin, commenting in?The Guardian, "[the film] is the first genuine Mars movie. It is the first movie that attempts to be realistic and that is actually about human beings grappling with the problems of exploring Mars, as opposed to various movies set on Mars that are essentially either shoot ’em ups or horror films. It does not engage in fantasy: no monsters, no magic, no Nazis. However, there are a number of technical mistakes."[103]Writing for the?New York Post,?Lou Lumenick?considered the film to be Scott's and Damon's best and thought that it is a "straightforward and thrilling survival-and-rescue adventure, without the metaphysical and emotional trappings of?Interstellar."[104]?Manohla Dargis, of?The New York Times, stated that the film, "involves a dual journey into outer and inner space, a trip that takes you into that immensity called the universe and deep into the equally vast landscape of a single consciousness. For this accidental castaway, space is the place where he’s physically marooned, but also where his mind is set free", from a film director, whose "great, persistent theme is what it means to be human".[39]?Another positive review came from Steve Pulaski of?Influx Magazine, who gave the film a B and stated, "Above all, this is a film destined to please a crowd; in addition, it also keeps its pathos down considerably, doesn't do a whole lot of pandering to a crowd anxious to see action, and never loses sight of its deeply human and remarkable story."[105]Accolades[edit]Main article:?List of accolades received by The Martian (film)The film has been critically acclaimed, and has been included in many critics' Top Ten Films of 2015 lists.[106]?The film has received many industry awards and nominations including 16 Best Picture, 10 Best Director (for Scott) and 11 Best Actors (for Damon) nominations at different organizations and associations.[107]?The?American Film Institute?selected?The Martian?as one of the?Top Ten Films?of the year. The film garnered three?Golden Globe Award?nominations for?Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy,?Best Director?for Scott and?Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy?for Damon. It received nine nominations from theBroadcast Film Critics Association, including?Best Film,?Best Director,?Best Actor,?Best Adapted Screenplay?and?Best Visual Effects.The Martian?was named?Film of the Year?by?National Board of Review?also winning?Best Director,?Best Actor?and?Best Adapted Screenplay. Ranked at position eight, it won the Top Ten Films of the year award atAfrican-American Film Critics Association. It received eight nominations from?Satellite Awards?including?Best Film,?Best Director,?Best Actor – Motion Picture,?Best Screenplay - Adapted?and?Best Visual ten lists[edit]The Martian?was named one of the best films of 2015 by numerous critics and publications and was ranked seventh on?Rotten Tomatoes?and thirteenth on?Metacritic's best scored film of 2015.[106][108]2nd?-?Christopher Orr,?The Atlantic3rd?- Seongyong Cho,?4th?-?Anne Thompson,?Thompson on Hollywood5th?- Liz Shannon Miller,?Indiewire5th?-?John Powers,?Vogue6th?- Alynda Wheat,?People7th?-?Yahoo Movies8th?-?Mike D'Angelo,?The A.V Club8th?-?Peter Travers,?Rolling Stone8th?- Peter Debruge,?Variety10th?-?Matthew Jacobs,?Huffington Post10th&?- Ann Hornaday,?Washington PostTop 10 (ranked alphabetically)?– Dana Harris ,IndiewireTop 10 (ranked alphabetically)?–?Joe Morgenstern?,?The Wall Street JournalTop 10 (ranked alphabetically)?–?Kenneth Turan,?Los Angeles TimesTop 10 (ranked alphabetically)?–?Steven Rea,Philadelphia InquirerTop 10 (ranked alphabetically)?–?American Film InstituteTop 10 (ranked alphabetically)?–?National Board of ReviewCasting controversy[edit]The Media Action Network For Asian-Americans criticized the casting of white actor Mackenzie Davis as Mindy Park, who was assumed to be of Korean-American descent in the novel. The group also criticized the casting of Chiwetel Ejiofor as Vincent Kapoor, who was assumed to be of?Indian?descent with the novel naming him Venkat Kapoor and revealing his?Hindu?background. The group called the casting?whitewashingand said Asian actors, being under-represented in Hollywood, were deprived of acting opportunities.[109]?Author Andy Weir said in October 2015 he perceived Mindy Park as Korean but said he did not explicitly write her as Korean. He also dismissed criticism of Ejiofor's casting as Kapoor, "He's an American. Americans come from lots of different sources. You can be Venkat Kapoor and black."[110]Scientific accuracy[edit]See also:?Effect of spaceflight on the human body,?Human mission to Mars?and?Hard science fictionJames L. Green, the?Director of the Planetary Science Division?at NASA, worked as an adviser for the film.[111]When Andy Weir wrote the novel?The Martian, he strove to present the science correctly and used reader feedback to get it right.[112]?When Ridley Scott began directing the film, he also sought to make it realistic and received help from?James L. Green, the?Director of the Planetary Science Division?at NASA. Green put together teams to answer scientific questions that Scott asked.[113]?Green said, "The Martian?is reasonably realistic," though he said the film's hazardous dust storm, despite reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour (190?km/h) would in reality have weak force.[114]?Green also found the NASA buildings in the film to be more stylish than the functional ones NASA actually uses.[115]?Film critics picked up the point that the Martian winds could amount to "barely a light breeze" in their reviews,[116][117]?and screenwriter Drew Goddard agreed the winds had to be considerably exaggerated in order to set up the situation that sets the story in motion.[118][119][120]The process used by the character Watney to produce water was accurate and is being used by NASA for a planned Martian rover. The?radioisotope thermoelectric generatorwas also appropriately used for heat.[112]?When his rations begin to run low, Watney builds an improvised garden using Martian soil and the crew's?feces?as a fertilizer. "We could probably grow something on Mars," says Dr. Michael Shara, curator,?Department of Astrophysics, Division of Physical Sciences at the?American Museum of Natural History.[121]?It is also thought possible that?microbial organisms could potentially live on Mars. In one scene, the glass face shield on Watney's helmet cracks; as oxygen momentarily drops below the critical level, he quickly patches the helmet with tape and avoids suffocation. According to Shara, "As long as the pressure on the inside is around 30 percent, you could hold it together before your eyes blow out or you had an?embolism."[121]While Martian gravity is less than 40% of Earth's, director Ridley Scott chose not to depict the gravitational difference, finding the effort less worthwhile to put on screen than zero gravity.[30]?Scott said the heavy spacesuits would weigh the main character enough to make up for not showing the partial gravity.[40]?The?climate?on Mars is also cold enough that it would make Watney's initial plan to disable the rover's heater immediately impractical. The average temperature is ?80?°F (?62?°C); it is cold enough on Mars for carbon dioxide snow to fall at the poles in winter.[121]Ed Finn, director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at?Arizona State University, said, "What this story does really well is imagine a near-future scenario that doesn't push too far of where we are today technically."[40]?British physicist?Brian Cox?said, "The Martian?is the best advert for a career in engineering I've ever seeIrrational ManIrrational Man?(film)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIrrational ManTheatrical release posterDirected byWoody AllenProduced byLetty AronsonStephen TenenbaumEdward WalsonWritten byWoody AllenStarringJoaquin PhoenixEmma StoneParker PoseyJamie BlackleyCinematographyDarius KhondjiEdited byAlisa LepselterProductioncompaniesGravier ProductionsPerdido ProductionsDistributed bySony Pictures ClassicsRelease datesMay?16,?2015?(Cannes)July?17,?2015(United States)Running time95 minutes[1]CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBox office$24.2 million[2]Irrational Man?is a 2015 American?mystery?drama?film written and directed by?Woody Allen, and starring?Joaquin Phoenix,?Emma Stone,?Parker Posey?and?Jamie Blackley.The film was released on July 17, 2015 by?Sony Pictures Classics?in a?limited release, later expanding wider. The film was?Jack Rollins' final production before his death in June 2015, having produced Allen's films since the 1970s.[3]Contents??[hide]?1Plot2Cast3Production3.1Filming4Release4.1Marketing5Reception6References7External linksPlot[edit]At the small-town New England college campus of Braylin, philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) finds himself in an existential crisis, but he eventually discovers a new purpose in life when he enters into a relationship with Jill Pollard (Emma Stone), one of his students. Jill's boyfriend Roy (Jamie Blackley) gets fed up with Jill's talking about Abe all the time, and reluctantly breaks up with her.While eating together at a diner, Abe and Jill overhear a conversation where a woman describes that she will lose her children in a custody fight because of a certain seemingly unethical judge in family court. Abe is troubled by the injustice, and, without telling Jill, decides to help the woman by murdering the judge; since he is not related to the case he would not be suspected. Abe steals from colleague Rita (Parker Posey), with whom he has sometimes had sex, a key to the college's science lab, where he steals?cyanide. He finds out that the judge has the habit of jogging in the park, and drinking a cup of fresh squeezed lemonade on a bench afterwards. Abe puts the poison in an identical cup of juice, which we later find out is actually orange, and exchanges the cups surreptitiously while sitting on the same bench, and walks away with the judge's cup. The judge dies as expected. It is eventually discovered that it was murder by cyanide poisoning. Jill and Rita get more and more clues of Abe's involvement, such as the missing key and Abe being seen in the lab; Jill also breaks into Abe's house and finds incriminating notes. Rita decides that even if he is guilty she wants to divorce her husband and go live abroad with Abe.After Jill confronts Abe, he confesses to her. She decides to break off their relationship, but she promises not to turn him in. However, after an innocent person becomes accused by the police of the crime, she presses Abe to turn himself in, and warns him that otherwise she will report him in a few days. Abe, who has only recently started enjoying life more than before, is determined not to lose that again by imprisonment or suicide. He attempts to kill Jill by pushing her into an elevator shaft he has rigged, but he slips on a flashlight—which, ironically, he won for Jill in a carnival game—and falls down the shaft to his death, leaving Jill to try to repair her own life.Cast[edit]Joaquin Phoenix?as Professor Abe LucasEmma Stone?as Jill PollardParker Posey?as Professor Rita RichardsJamie Blackley?as RoyBetsey Aidem as Jill's MotherEthan Phillips?Jill's FatherSophie Von Haselberg?as AprilBen Rosenfield?as April's Friend #1Susan Pourfar as CarolProduction[edit]On May 2, 2014, it was announced that?Woody Allen?would write and direct his upcoming film, in which?Joaquin Phoenix?had joined the cast.[4]?Later on May 6,?Emma Stone?joined the cast, marking her second film collaboration with Allen as she previously co-starred in Allen's romantic comedy?Magic in the Moonlight?in 2014.[5]?On July 24,?Parker Posey?and?Jamie Blackley?also joined the cast, which Allen would produce along with?Letty Aronson?and?Stephen Tenenbaum.[6]?On January 29, 2015,?Sony Pictures Classics?acquired the distribution rights to the film and revealed the title to be?Irrational Man.[7]?It marks Allen's eighth film distributed by the label.Filming[edit]Principal photography?began on July 7, 2014 in?Newport,?Rhode Island?and it lasted until the end of August.[8]?The crews were spotted filming outside at The Fastnet Pub in Newport.[9][10]Release[edit]Emma Stone,?Woody Allen?andParker Posey?promoting the film at the2015 Cannes Film Festival.On January 29, 2015, it was announced?Sony Pictures Classics?had acquired all distribution rights to the film, marking it the eighth Woody Allen film to be released by Classics.[11]?The film had its world premiere on May 16, 2015, at the?2015 Cannes Film Festival.[12]?The film was given a?limited release?on July 17, 2015,[13]?and later a?wide release?on August 7, 2015.[14]Marketing[edit]The film's first?trailer?was released on April 29, 2015.[15]Reception[edit]Irrational Man?has received mixed reviews from critics. On the?review aggregator?website?Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 42% approval rating, based on 147 reviews, with a?rating average?of 5.4/10. The site's consensus reads, "Irrational Man?may prove rewarding for the most ardent Joaquin Phoenix fans or Woody Allen apologists, but all others most likely need not apply."[16]?On?Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 53 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[17]Assassinations Korean Movie ssassination?(2015 film)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaAssassinationDirected byChoi Dong-hoonProduced byAhn Soo-hyunChoi Dong-hoonWritten byChoi Dong-hoonLee Ki-cheolStarringJun Ji-hyunLee Jung-jaeHa Jung-wooMusic byJang Young-gyuDalparanCinematographyKim Woo-hyungEdited byShin Min-kyungProductioncompanyCaper FilmDistributed byShowbox[1]?(South Korea)Well Go USA[2]?(USA)Release datesJuly?22,?2015?(South Korea)August?7,?2015(United States)August?27,?2015(Hong Kong)Running time140 minutesCountrySouth KoreaLanguageKoreanBudgetUS$16 million[3]Box officeUS$90.9 million[4]Assassination?(Hangul:???;?RR:?Amsal) is a 2015 South Korean?espionage?action film?co-written and directed by?Choi Dong-hoon.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]Contents??[hide]?1Plot2Cast3Production4Box office5Critical reception6Awards and nominations7Plagiarism lawsuit8References9External linksPlot[edit]Set in the 1930s?during Japan's colonial rule of Korea, many Korean resistance activists are based in?Manchuria, northeastern China while hiding from Japanese authorities. In 1933, orders are given to assassinate Kawaguchi Mamoru, the governor of the Japanese garrison in?Gyeongseong, and Kang In-gook, a pro-Japanese Korean business tycoon. For this covert mission, Yeom Seok-jin, an agent of the provisional Korean government who had broken out of prison in 1911, is tasked to do the same for three people and bring them to?Shanghai: topnotch sniper Ahn Ok-yun, who's in a Manchurian jail for shooting her superior; Chu Sang-ok (nicknamed "Big Gun"), one of the last graduates of the Independence Military School and in prison after stealing guns from?Chiang Kai-shek's army then selling them; and Chu's cellmate Hwang Deok-sam, an explosives specialist imprisoned for selling faulty product. The squad arrives in Gyeongseong, not knowing that one of them is secretly working for the Japanese and has hired freelance assassin Hawaii Pistol and his sidekick Old Man to kill members of the team.Cast[edit]Jun Ji-hyun?as Ahn Ok-yun/Mitsuko[14][15][16][17]Lee Jung-jae?as Yeom Seok-jinHa Jung-woo?as "Hawaii Pistol"[18]Oh Dal-su?as "Old Man"Cho Jin-woong?as Chu Sang-ok ("Big Gun")Lee Geung-young?as Kang In-gookChoi Deok-moon as Hwang Deok-samKim Eui-sung as Butler of Kang familyPark Byung-eun as Kawaguchi ShunsukeJin Kyung?as Ahn Seong-simHeo Ji-won as Myeong-wooKim Hong-pa as?Kim KooJung Gyu-soo as HunchbackKim Kang-woo as Special investigatorShim Cheol-jong as Kawaguchi MamoruHan Dong-gyu as Police chiefJeong Gi-seop as Military police leaderJung In-gyeom as SasakiLee Hwan as Se-gwangTamura Hiroto as KimuraLee Young-seok as?Terauchi MasatakeShim Hee-seop as Public prosecutorYoon Jong-gu as Anti-National Crimes Special Committee investigatorHong Won-gi as JudgeHeo Jeong-do as Consulate employeeWoo Sang-jeon as?Ye WanyongJo Seung-woo?as?Kim Won-bong?(cameo)Kim Hae-sook?as Cafe Anemone owner (cameo)Hong Seong-deok as DentistKim Joon-woo as?Sontag Hotel?managerProduction[edit]With a budget of ?18 billion (or?US$16 million),?Assassination?filmed in both Shanghai and Seoul for five months. A special set of 13,500 square meters was created in?Goyang,?Gyeonggi Province, to recreate the Seosomun Street in Gyeongseong. The rest of the filming took place at the Shanghai set in Chedun, which is 27 times the size of the?Hapcheon?set in?South Gyeongsang Province?(the 2007 Chinese film?Lust, Caution?was also shot in Chedun).[3]Box office[edit]Opening on 1,260 screens on July 22, 2015,?Assassination?earned ?3.59 billion (US$3.08 million) from 478,000 admissions. It was the best opening day for a local film in 2015 and the second best opening day overall in Korea behind?Avengers: Age of Ultron.[19][20][21]?As of August 26, 2015, it has grossed a total of?US$77 million?from 11.79 million admissions, making it the highest-grossing Korean film of 2015 as well as theeighth all-time highest grossing film in Korean cinema history.[22][23][24][25]?The film earned CN?46.959 million at the Chinese box office.[26]Critical reception[edit]Assassination?has received mixed to positive reviews, most of which praises the film's entertainment value but criticizes its length and complicated narrative.?Village Voice?'?s Simon Abrams found the film's highlights to be during its lighthearted scenes, and summarized?Assassination?as "the kind of overstuffed historical mega-production that Hollywood doesn't make anymore."[27]?Although lamenting the film's characters and running time,?Screen Daily?'?s Jason Bechervaise praised Choi Dong-hoon's direction and his execution of the movie's action sequences.[28]?The?Washington City Paper?praised the film as a "revelation for Korean cinema and a rediscovery of form."[29]The New York Times?'?s Jeanette Catsoulis also praised the film's action scenes, but argued that its screenplay contained too many characters and surmised that "it's possible to follow [Assassination] without taking notes, but I wouldn't recommend it."[30]?Similarly,?The Hollywood Reporter?'?s Clarence Tsui admired the high production values of the film, but heavily disapproved of its poor characterizations and Choi's approach to the?historical film genre, particularly labeling the film's ending as "half-baked commentary."[31]Awards and nominations[edit]YearAwardCategoryRecipientResult201524th?Buil Film AwardsBest FilmAssassinationNominatedBest DirectorChoi Dong-hoonNominatedBest ActorLee Jung-jaeWonBest ActressJun Ji-hyunNominatedBest Supporting ActorCho Jin-woongNominatedBest CinematographyKim Woo-hyungNominatedBest Art DirectionRyu Seong-heeWonBest MusicJang Young-gyu, DalparanNominated35th?Korean Association of Film Critics Awards[32]Best CinematographyKim Woo-hyungWonTechnical AwardRyu Seong-hee(Art Direction)WonTop 10 Films of the YearAssassinationWon52nd?Grand Bell AwardsBest FilmAssassinationNominatedBest DirectorChoi Dong-hoonNominatedBest ActorHa Jung-wooNominatedBest ActressJun Ji-hyunWonBest Supporting ActorOh Dal-suNominatedBest ScreenplayChoi Dong-hoon, Lee Ki-cheolNominatedBest CinematographyKim Woo-hyungNominatedBest EditingShin Min-kyungNominatedBest Art DirectionRyu Seong-heeNominatedBest LightingKim Seung-gyuNominatedBest Costume DesignJo Sang-gyeong, Son Na-riNominatedBest MusicJang Young-gyu, DalparanNominatedHigh Technology Special AwardJeong Do-an, Kim Tae-ui(Special Effects)NominatedBest Sound RecordingKim Suk-won, Park Joo-gangNominated36th?Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest FilmAssassinationWonBest DirectorChoi Dong-hoonNominatedBest ActorLee Jung-jaeNominatedBest ActressJun Ji-hyunNominatedBest Supporting ActorCho Jin-woongNominatedBest ScreenplayChoi Dong-hoon, Lee Ki-cheolNominatedBest CinematographyKim Woo-hyungNominatedBest EditingShin Min-kyungNominatedBest Art DirectionRyu Seong-heeNominatedBest LightingKim Seung-gyuNominatedBest MusicJang Young-gyu, DalparanNominatedTechnical AwardJo Sang-gyeong, Son Na-ri(Costume Design)WonLee Jeon-hyeong, Lee Dong-hun(Visual Effects)NominatedPlagiarism lawsuit[edit]On August 10, 2015, novelist Choi Jong-rim filed a lawsuit against director Choi Dong-hoon, production company Caper Film and distributor Showbox, alleging that various elements from?Assassination, including the setting and the female protagonist, highly resemble those of his book?Korean Memories, published in 2003. Choi is seeking ?10 billion (US$8.5 million) in?damages. Caper Film denied those claims, rebutting that the female character in Choi's novel is not a sniper, and that assassination schemes were common in the anti-Japanese movement.[33][34][35][36]Seoul Central District Court rejected Choi's request for an?injunction?to stop the film from being shown in theaters, ruling on August 19, 2015 that an abstract summary cannot be protected by copyright laws, the female protagonists in the novel and the film are "depicted in completely different ways" with the assassination plan not a major plot point in the novel, and that supporting characters?Kim Koo?and?Kim Won-bong?are real historical figures and hence cannot be viewed as a source of similarity between the two works.[37]Movies to Look For In the 20th (and now the 21st) century, alternate history stories were a big hit. If considered a genre in its own right, there is actually a good deal of diversity within the field. But the most popular subsection of this peculiar fiction is surely the What If Germany Won World War II scenario.This was the premise for Philip K. Dick’s 1962 novel?The Man in the High Castle, in which the Nazis and the Japanese win the war, invade America, and divide the US between them. Japan receives the Pacific States, with Germany controlling everything east of the Rockies.Amazon’s 10-episode mini-series (now scheduled to add a second season) brings Dick’s novel to life, expanding upon certain characters, inventing others, and offering us a compelling visual glimpse of just what this world might have been like. Other writers have noted the differences between the show and the novel (Laura Miller’s fantastic piece?for Slate is well worth your time). Suffice it to say that the TV show adds a great deal more action, drama and violence. It’s TV, after all.Which is not to say the show is inherently inferior. Amazon has done a fine job crafting a compelling story with a larger arc than Dick’s novel. And it accomplishes a rather rare and unique feat: humanizing a sadistic Nazi leader (in many ways, Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith is the most likable character, in spite of his adherence to the Nazi philosophy, and when his beloved teenage son?is diagnosed with an incurable disease, you can’t help but feel heartbroken for the man).Dick was hardly the only writer to explore this particular alternate reality. Len Deighton’s novel?SSGB?covers similar territory, imagining an England overrun by the Nazis, Churchill assassinated, and a victorious Reich. Robert Harris renewed this theme in his novel?Fatherland, which centers around a murder investigation in Berlin after the Nazis have conquered Europe. More recently, the idea was taken up by CJ Sansom, whose novel?Dominion?is much along the same lines as?Fatherland, only set in London instead of Germany.It is easy to see the appeal of an alternate history set under the heavy Nordic thumb of the Third Reich. Dystopian novels have a long shadow?and are perennially popular (Utopian novels, on the other hand, always fall flat). Orwell’s?1984?and Huxley’s?Brave New World?remain bestselling classics to this day. But these works posit a future in which some uncertain government has taken over and subdued society.?The Man in the High Castle?and its brethren benefit from snatching a few pages directly from history, giving their works a bit more meat on the bone, if not perhaps the same level of thematic musing.Another variation on this theme is Philip Roth’s impressive?The Plot Against America. This novel is perhaps more prescient than Dick’s. Roth offers us not a conquered United States, but rather one that capitulates to Germany and signs a peace treaty with Hitler. In an interesting twist, it is the newly elected president, aviator and hero Charles Lindburg, who makes peace with the Nazis. But in other ways, Roth and Dick cover the same ground, showing us an America twisted by racism. Each novel suggests a rather uncomfortable truth: that the racism of the Nazis is only a variation on the homegrown racism in our own country, and that we are not quite as different as we believe.Michael Chabon’s?The Yiddish Policeman’s Union?doesn’t imagine the Allies lost the war, but it does offer a fascinating alternate history after the war’s conclusion: the creation of a Jewish state not in the Middle East, but in Alaska. Chabon takes up the same thread as Deighton, Harris and Sansom, giving us a detective on the hunt for a murderer as the main thrust of the novel. And he graces the reader with his usual luminous prose:?Nine months Landsman’s been flopping around the Hotel Zamenhof without any of his fellow residents managing to get themselves murdered. Now someone has put a bullet in the brain of the occupant of 208, a yid who was calling himself Emanuel Lasker.Alternate histories inherently raise the question of how singular events shift the tide of time.?In?the phenomenal?11/22/63,?Stephen King?chooses not WWII but the assassination of JFK as his historical focal point. His hero finds a doorway that leads him into the early 1960s, offering him the opportunity to stop the Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas. Though we only glimpse an alternate history near the end of the novel, King continually raises the same questions as Dick, Roth, and company: what if things had been different?Another fine example in the genre is Robert Charles Wilson’s novel?Burning Paradise, in which the main characters live in a peaceful alternate reality that hasn’t known war since the Armistice of 1914. No WWII. No Vietnam. Unfortunately, this peace is the product of careful control and manipulation by an alien race that has stepped in at crucial moments in history to guide Earth where it wants it to go. The main characters of the novel are a unique minority: they are aware of this manipulation. Which makes them targets for the aliens, who kill anyone who discovers the truth.Few genres have offered so many truly compelling and thought-provoking novels as tales of alternate history, and from so many different kinds of authors. Literary novelists (Roth, Chabon) and popular writers (Deighton, Harris) and those with a foot in both camps (King, Dick).If you haven’t checked out?The Man in the High Castle?on Amazon’s streaming service, it is worth watching. You have to be a Prime member, unfortunately, but I imagine Amazon will release a DVD/Blu-Ray set at some point. Put it on your list. It definitely made my list of the best television shows of 2015.50 Brilliant Science Fiction Movies That Everyone Should See At Least OnceCharlie Jane AndersBOLD I’ve seen add to movie list Science fiction has rocked cinemas for a century, and the genre has produced many undisputed classics during that time. But which movies are essential viewing for anyone interested in the genre? We broke down the 50 must-watch science fiction films.Methodology: We looked at a few different criteria, including overall cinematic excellence. We wanted to include films that were important to the development of the genre, and which had helped to raise the overall level of awesomeness in science fiction films. We also wanted to represent as many different types of films as possible. And we looked for films that had an original concept, or which were the first of their kind in some way.But most of all, we looked for films that would represent science fiction well to a new audience and totally rock a neophyte’s brain.Obviously, a list like this can never be 100 percent definitive, and we may have left your favorite movie of all time out. And there’s clearly a bias here towards more recent movies that are fresher in our minds. Anyway, feel free to disagree and post your own lists in comments!1) Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang)This film is one of the most formative works of science fiction of all time, and its imagery remains potent nearly 80 years later. And now that there’s a fully restored version finally hitting cinemas — for the first time ever, outside of Germany — you can finally appreciate Fritz Lang’s vision in its entirety. With its uniquely weird storyline involving a worker’s uprising and a woman’s robot duplicate, Metropolis remains a source of fascination — but it’s also the source of much of the work that comes after it.2) Frankenstein (1931, dir. James Whale)This wasn’t the first movie adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel about a scientist who dabbles in the forces of nature, but it’s still the most iconic. Boris Karloff’s version of Frankenstein’s monster will always be the definitive version to most people, and this movie gave birth to much of the imagery that we still associate with “mad scientists” to this day. And it’s a work of strange beauty and alienation, that still has the power to shock our hearts to life today.3) The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951, dir. Robert Wise) and remake version as wellThe 1950s were the era of sensational movies about aliens and monsters threatening our way of life — but onlyThe Day The Earth Stood Still?dares to use that framework to make us question that way of life. Klaatu’s visit to us, and the warning he delivers, still resonate today. With its thought-provoking premise, this film won praise from such luminaries as Arthur C. Clarke, who put it on his own list of the best science fiction films.4) The Man in the White Suit (1951, dir. Alexander Mackendrick)One of the classic “Ealing Comedies” starring Alec Guinness, this is a very different sort of “mad scientist” film than Frankenstein. Guinness plays a man who’s determined to invent a fabric that can never rip or get dirty, so he can free millions of people from drudgery. But his invention will also put a lot of people out of work, because eliminating drudgery means eliminating jobs. This is science fiction at its most thought-provoking—and it’s funny as hell, too.5) Godzilla (1954, dir. Ishiro Honda)60 years later, the archetypal giant monster is still wreaking destruction. But the firstGodzilla?movie is still a total classic, in which the trauma of nuclear weapons is literalized in the form of a destructive behemoth. A lot of the best science fiction is about grappling with our fears of technology and the unknown, but seldom has it been as visceral and thrilling as it is here. Skip the Raymond Burr-bastardized American release and go straight for the original Japanese version.)6) Forbidden Planet (1956, dir. Fred M. WilcoxA formative classic of space opera, this is said to be the first movie to take place on another planet, in deep space. It’s often described as a retelling of Shakespeare’sThe Tempest, but?Forbidden Planet?also manages to do something unique, with a monster that comes from within and its secret relationship to the mysterious scourge that wiped out the super-advanced Krell race, 200,000 years ago. Like TDTES, this film examines our own tendency towards self-destruction, but it delves into the psychology of human self-destructiveness more.7) Doctor Strangelove (1964, dir. Stanley Kubrick)There were a number of great apocalyptic movies during the height of the Cold War, including 1959’s?On The Beach. What makes?Doctor Strangelove?a science fiction classic is first of all, that it invests so much energy into inventing strange new ideas like the doomsday device that forces global annihilation in the event of an attack. And the network of underground survival tunnels, where important men and a large number of women will wait out the nuclear winter. But most of all, writer Terry Southern’s satirical gem gives us amazing insight into the psychology of apocalypse, showing us just what sort of men would doom the entire world on purpose.8) Planet Of The Apes (1968, dir. Franklin J. Schaffner) plus all sequelsAnd here’s a very different version of humanity’s encounter with the “other” — Charleton Heston is the indignant everyman, thrust into a world where humans are little better than beasts and apes are ascendant. With their stinking paws. This film launched a whole genre of films in which a lone human (sometimes Heston again) copes with an inhuman who have inherited our planet and transformed it in their own image. But this film is still arguably the best. (And we almost included the recent prequel,?Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which is a classic in its own right.)9) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, dir. Stanley Kubrick)A total departure from everything that came before, this film benefited immensely from Kubrick’s unique eye as well as Arthur C. Clarke’s mixture of hard science fiction and interest in transcendance. It’s almost hard to list everything this film did first, and better than anybody else since: A compelling, realistic description of life in space? A depiction of an artificial intelligence going mad? A huge mystery that spans from the dawn of humanity into our far future? Those are just the building blocks for a film that’s as mind-blowing and rewarding of close attention today as it was in 1968. It’s also given us some of the genre’smost quotable dialogue.10) Solaris (1972, dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)The decade following?2001?saw a handful of slow, meditative science fiction movies, which dramatize the loneliness and madness of the vast cosmos. But arguably the most memorable and intense of these is Tarkovsky’s masterpiece in which a cosmonaut orbiting a planet covered by a psychic ocean is confronted with a reconstruction of his dead wife. Based on a story by Stanislaw Lem, this movie leaves you questioning the very being of its characters and the nature of love itself,?as Roger Ebert explains.11) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, dir. Steven Spielberg)There are a lot of great movies about making first contact with aliens—we almost included?Contact?on this list as well—but this one really captures the mystery and wonder of encountering beings with such a different view of reality that we barely share a language. The concept of communicating with aliens through musical notes is such a powerful one, it feeds into the general sense of awe and strangeness that turns this movie into a powerful experience. For years, this movie shaped how people imagined meeting more advanced extraterrestrial beings.12) Alien (1979, dir. Ridley Scott) plus sequelsThis film didn’t just launch Scott and star Sigourney Weaver — it also launched a whole genre of movies about our terrifying encounters with creatures beyond our own imagination. Scott merged space opera, Westerns and horror in a way that pretty much nobody had done before, and the result remains vivid today. With a sharp script by Dan O’Bannon and note-perfect direction by Scott, this is a master class on how to do creepiness and a compelling story in the sterility of deep space. And you really have to see the sequel, directed by James Cameron, which is a defining moment in the history of military science fiction and space opera.13) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980, dir. Irvin Kerschner). Plus rest of series This is the first of three sequels that came out in the early 1980s that were better than the films they followed, but which also innovated in a way that their precursors didn’t. Not that the original Star Wars wasn’t innovative — it was, in many ways, including its breathtaking effects, its fresh take on Western and Samurai themes, and its exhilerating approach to space opera. But Empire Strikes Back took all of the formal brilliance of Star Wars and married it to a story that feels truly epic. Luke Skywalker’s journey in the film, from near-death on Hoth to confronting his own darkness on Dagobah to learning the truth on Bespin — this is a real voyage of discovery. You couldn’t skip any of those steps and have it still work. All our other heroes struggle with tragedy and adversity — especially Han Solo — and it makes them deeper and more magnetic as characters. This isn’t just the best Star Wars movie, it’s one of the most essential movies, in any genre.14) The Lathe of Heaven (1980, dir. David Loxton and Fred Barzyk) recently sawBased on the novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, this made-for-TV movie is a rock solid piece of science fiction as well as an unsettling psychological drama. Despite the PBS production values, this story of a man whose dreams start coming true in the real world manages to pack in a lot of strangeness and wild visions. Plus it asks the kinds of huge questions about the nature of reality, and how our perceptions shape the world, that science fiction often asks at its best.15) Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981, dir. George Miller) plus sequelsThe first Mad Max film is brutal and awesome, and well worth watching again, especially if you’ve only seen the crappy dubbed version. But where Mad Max shows the breakdown of Max and the civilization he lives in, this sequel shows the aftermath, and becomes an indelible classic of post-apocalyptic films in the process. The final huge convoy scene, with its demolition derby feeling, has influenced everything that came after. And with “peak oil” once again being a hot topic, this film’s story of barbarians struggling over the last oil supplies has a new resonance. And yes, you absolutely must see the recent?Mad Max: Fury Road?as well.16) Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982, dir. Nicholas Meyer) plus rest of seriesLike Empire Strikes Back, this film rises above its status as just another installment in a big, commercial saga. You could show this movie to someone who had never seen any Trek, and it would still resonate on a hundred different levels. James Kirk is the ultimate neophile, who always wants to go forward and rediscover new worlds, but he’s been doing it too long and now his past is chasing him everywhere he goes. He’s got a son and an arch-enemy that he didn’t know he had, and the twist — that the ultimate weapon is also a source of renewal that can literally create life where none existed before — sets up one of the most bittersweet endings in movie history. And then there are the space battles, which are totally different than Star Wars and yet indelibly awesome in their own right.17) Blade Runner (1982, dir. Ridley Scott)Blade Runner is still just as visually unique now as it was when it came out, and it defined the look and feel of cyberpunk as well as urban dystopia. And you can’t even talk about science fiction noir without delving into Blade Runner. And like many of the other films on this list, Blade Runner looks at what it means to be human by examining our interactions with the “other” — but the line gets so blurry, and the Replicants so fascinating, that the end result is something you have to chew over in the hours after watching.18) E.T. (1982, dir. Steven Spielberg)A lot of people may hate on this film, but it changed the way we see first contact with aliens as much as Close Encounters of the Third Kind did. And E.T. was one of the first really compelling aliens ever to appear on the big screen. E.T. takes the sense of wonder from Close Encounters and makes it more intimate and personal. This is also the movie in which Spielberg’s obessions with fatherhood, children and discovery resonate the best. But also, from a technical standpoint, it’s an amazing achievement — rewatch it sometime, and look at how everything is presented from a child’s eye-level, and the mom is the only adult whose face we see in the first two acts. Spielberg uses lighting, camera angles and dialog to make a film that’s not just about childhood, but told from a child’s point of view.19) Tron (1982, dir. Steven Lisberger)It’s hard to understate how much this film changed the genre of science fiction — it’s arguably the first movie to use computer generated effects, as Lisberger hung out at MIT and learned from the techies there — but it’s also still one of the most thrilling depictions of virtual worlds on the big screen. (Compare Tron to Lawnmower Man to see how much more exciting and believable the earlier film is.) With the theme of fighting against the fascistic Master Control Program, Lisberger manages to update science fiction’s longstanding interest in social change, but makes it fun and exciting rather than dreary and preachy.20) Back To The Future (1985, dir. Robert Zemeckis) plus sequelsIt’s shocking how few truly great science fiction comedy films there are, but BTTF would still tower above the rest even if there were tons. It’s clever and yet never stops being about Marty McFly and his family. It manages to come up with a coherent theory of time travel, in which you can rewrite the past and the effects are seen nearly instantaneously (luckily, Marty is only missing like an arm and a leg before the timestream rights itself) and never becomes inconsistent. And it’s surprisingly daring, jumping feet first into the tricky waters of time-traveling incest. Plus it’s one of those science fiction movies that everybody, even genre-hating snobs, will admit to loving.21) Brazil (1985, dir. Terry Gilliam)And another classic from 1985’s is also a comedy... well, sort of. It’s possibly the darkest, bleakest, most horrifying comedy you’ll ever see, with freakish plastic surgery, a man being condemned to death because of a typographical error, a lecture on ducting and a vigilante plumber. This is my favorite movie of all time, and probably the best thing to come out of Monty Python after the television series. This film probably couldn’t get made today, and it definitely wouldn’t get made in Hollywood, which tried to neuter it in U.S. cinemas. A subversive masterpiece, this film changed what a lot of people thought was possible in dark comedy as well as dystopian film-making.22) Enemy Mine (1985, dir. Wolfgang Petersen) need to see We love tortured movies about encountering the other—and they don’t get much more tender and beautiful than this tale of a human (Dennis Quaid) who gets crash-landed on a planet with an alien (Louis Gossett Jr.). The two of them have to learn to work together to survive, and ultimately become a kind of family. It’s a parable of overcoming xenophobia, but also of learning to see the beauty in the other—and the ugliness in your own people.?23) RoboCop (1987, dir. Paul Verhoeven) plus sequelAnother totally subversive science fiction movie from the 1980s, this film picks up Tron’s obsessions with corporate fascism and runs in a different direction, with the evil OCP trying to take over Detroit’s police force and remake the struggling city as Delta City. RoboCop himself is a great example of science fiction’s struggle with the ways technology changes or negates our humanity, and 20 years before The Dark Knight, this film manages to delve into similar questions about how far we’ll go to keep society safe from crime. A surreal blend of cyberpunk, Frankenstein and action movie, this film remains Verhoeven’s greatest statement.24) Predator (1987, dir. John McTiernan)This is one of the greatest science fiction action movies of all time, as a total badass commando (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who else?) is faced with an alien creature that’s way more badass than he is. The Predator can see in infrared and turn invisible, and seems unbeatable. And it’s come to Earth for one reason only: To hunt us for sport. The process of taking this alpha killer down is one of pure deduction and brute savagery, and it’s amazing to watch.25) They Live (1988, dir. John Carpenter) – need to re-see soon We almost included Carpenter’s remake of?The Thing?on this list as well, along with?Escape from New York, but ended up leaving this as the only example of Carpenter’s amazing ouevre on this list. Because it’s arguably the most subversive and insane of Carpenter’s 1980s gems. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper gets hold of some special sunglasses that allow him to see that we’re all ruled over by evil skull-faced aliens. Their ugly faces are everywhere, and their propaganda is ubiquitous. Good thing Piper is out of bubble gum.26) Akira (1988, dir. Katsuhiro Otomo)This anime classic is still utterly unique, all these decades later. In 2019, Tokyo is an apocalyptic wasteland in the aftermath of World War III, and a biker gang led by Kaneda tries to prevent the devastation from happening again. Unfortunately, one of the bikers, Tetsuo, has the same kind of psychic powers as Akira, the man who caused the destruction of Tokyo in the first place. They keep trying to remake this movie in live-action with American actors, and let’s hope they keep failing.27) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, dir. James Cameron) plus rest of seriesSpeaking of dark action movies that confront us with questions about what it means to be human — this film would deserve a spot on the list just for the scene in which John Connor opens up the Terminator’s head and changes his brain from read-only to read/write, so the Terminator can begin to learn from his experiences instead of just following commands. But it’s also a brilliant action movie, in which every action sequence is inventive and uses special effects in a clever way. Every big-budget, CG-heavy action film aspires to be Terminator 2 deep in its chrome heart.28) Jurassic Park (1993, dir. Steven Spielberg) plus sequel And here’s another Spielberg movie! This one’s about humans creating awe-inspiring creatures, rather than encountering them. Michael Crichton took the story of his beloved film?Westworld?and replaced robot cowboys with cloned dinosaurs, and the result is a thrillride in which a shirtless Jeff Goldblum asks the big questions about whether we should tamper with the forces of nature, just because we can. As much as?Tron?and?Terminator 2, this film utterly transformed how movies use digital effects.29) Ghost In The Shell (1995, dir. Mamoru Oshii)Like Akira, this is one of the first anime films to hit the U.S. and make a big impact, and impress on U.S. fans how powerful anime film-making was becoming. It’s spawned a huge franchise, which for the most part hasn’t diluted the awesomeness of the concept at all — Stand Alone Complex is considered one of the greatest science fiction anime shows, and it wouldn’t exist without this film. With its theme of possibly false memories and cyber-weirdness, it had a huge influence on both cyberpunks and memory-altering works like Dark City and Dollhouse, but it turns into an amazing examination of the theme of sentience and the definition of life.30) Twelve Monkeys (1995, dir. Terry Gilliam)Gilliam is one of the few directors to be represented on this list more than once—we almost included his?Time Bandits?too, but that’s arguably more fantasy than science fiction. This film, based on the French time-travel story?La Jetee, is one of the most perfect works of fatalism ever. A man goes back in time from the plague-ridden future, only to find that he’s already part of the apocalyptic events that he remembers from his childhood. What makes this movie even more compelling is the way it combines the closed-loop time travel with a vision of madness, as embodied by Brad Pitt.31) Gattaca (1997, dir. Andrew Niccol)Niccol has sort of made a career out of filming wonderfully heavy-handed dystopias, but this is his most beloved and successful (other thanThe Truman Show, which he wrote but did not direct.) Ethan Hawke is a man who wants to join the space program even though he was not genetically enhanced, in a future where only people with upgraded genes get to do certain things. It’s a thought-provoking look at the implications of gene-splicing that’s even more relevant today.32) The Fifth Element (1997, dir. Luc Besson)In a strange, dirty, glamorous future, the young Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) is our only hope for escaping total destruction at the hands of a Great Evil—but she’s faced with an army of alien thugs and their vicious leader, Zorg (Gary Oldman). This is a joyously silly and bizarre space opera that’s full of beautiful set pieces and incredible production design. But it’s also one of the few movies to capture the unique feel of French?bandes dessinees?in live-action, especially the artwork of Jean Giraud, aka Moebius.33) The Matrix (1999, dir. the Wachowskis) plus sequelsForget the colossal letdown of the sequels — viewed as a standalone film, this is a brilliant action movie that spawned a million imitators, but it also put an end to an entire sub-genre. There were a slew of dark cyberpunk movies in the late 1990s that mixed weirdness and clever intrigue, with a sense that nothing was real — and The Matrix basically ended that subgenre by being so good, the others paled by comparison. (Have you even heard of Cyberwars? The 13th Floor?) And this film asked philosophical questions about the nature of reality, while feeding us our messianic candy in a way that didn’t leave us sick to our stomachs afterwards.34) Galaxy Quest (1999, dir. Dean Parisot)Also known as “the Star Trek spoof that became one of the best Star Trek movies.” This is such a brilliant concept: A group of washed-up actors from a space opera TV show get recruited by aliens who believe the show is a documentary, and have to learn to become the characters they played on TV. What makes things even better is thatGalaxy Quest?goes beyond just poking fun at all of the tropes of old-school television science fiction, and actually becomes a terrific space adventure in its own right.35) Primer (2004, dir. Shane Carruth)Primer?is famous as a film that you need to watch a few times before you fully grasp what’s going on, and there’s never been a movie that was less eager to explain itself to its audience. The opening, in which a couple of nerds tinkering in their garage randomly hit on an amazing discovery, is one of the great iconic nerd scenes of all time, and then the movie just gets crazier and crazier, with our heroes going back in time a few times too often until they descend into a kind of insanity. Worth watching just for the Walkman scene. This film is what Lost was trying to do with its own time travel stories.36) The Incredibles (2004, dir. Brad Bird)It took immense self-control not to load this list up with a ton of films from the Pixar guys. But?The Incredibles?is arguably the best Pixar film, and the best superhero film, of all. This film takes the mythos of the?Fantastic Four?and mashes it up with a bit of?Watchmen, and the result manages to be just as fun as the former and almost as dark and thought-provoking as the latter. And?The Incredibles?does something few other standalone superhero films have pulled off: it feels like a fully realized superhero universe, in which there are superhero costume makers, and tons of larger-than-life challenges all the time, including big robots and supervillains. This film paved the way for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and so much else.37) Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004, dir. Michel Gondry).This film works on so many levels. It’s a metaphor for the ways in which you try to erase someone from your memories and your life, after a breakup, in order to reinvent yourself as a single person. And yet, the film manages to suggest, that process is a form of suicide — you have to destroy a piece of your life in order to excise your former lover from it. And since that process is also the reverse of falling in love, maybe it leads you to realize why you fell for the other person in the first place. But Eternal Sunshine is also an incredibly clever science fiction movie that introduces a bizarre new technology in a way that’s both surreal and believable.38) Serenity (2006, dir. Joss Whedon)This film is beloved because it provides a fitting (if heart-breaking) conclusion to the perfect one-season TV series?Firefly. But you don’t even have to have seen?Firefly?to appreciate?Serenity?as a great science fiction movie in its own right—despite what the critics told people when this film was released. Serenity is the story of a group of smugglers and crooks, who fought on the wrong side of a space war, and their discovery of a terrible secret about the people who were on the winning side. There’s a fantastically complex metaphor at the heart of this movie about free will, and what it means to “be bad guys.” This film also benefits immensely from having Chiwetel Ejiofor as its villain.39) Children Of Men (2006, dir. Alfonso Cuarón)On the surface, this film is about a dystopian future in which humans can no longer procreate, and society falls into madness. But it quickly turns into a metaphor for immigration and xenophobia, as the United Kingdom tries to shut out the rest of the world. No film has depicted sheer chaos as kinetically and memorably as this one has, especially in its epic final single-take action sequence. Unpredictable, dazzling and well-made, Children Of Men sets the standard for gritty science fiction action movies.40) The Host (2006, dir. Bong Joon-ho)Bong has become more well known recently for directing the post-apocalyptic thrillerSnowpiercer—but this story of a mutant creature terrorizing Korea is like a newGodzilla?for the 21st century. Instead of being unleashed by atomic bomb tests, this monster is created by chemical spills and American imperialism, and the political satire is pretty intense. But this is also one of the all-time great monster movies, in which the fight against the creature is a thing of beauty and terror.41) Wall-E (2008, dir. Andrew Stanton)American cinema has pumped out post-apocalyptic stories like a doom factory over the past decade or so. But few of them manage to be as hopeful, or as sweet, as this story of a robot who’s left alone on an abandoned Earth, turning all our garbage into cubes and studying the remnants of our culture. This movie turns into a love story, as the stranded Wall-E encounters another robot, and that in turn becomes the story of how human beings can find redemption through our own creations.42) Moon (2009, dir. Duncan Jones)As much as it’s true that we’re drowning in a sea of derivative garbage, as Hollywood tries to churn out as many cookie-cutter films and sequels as possible, some really original and clever films have sneaked through. Moon is both a throwback to old-school film-making (mostly practical effects, a single massive set that was built in its entirety and sealed up during filming) and a huge step forward in terms of using special effects in a clever, inobtrusive way. (The central trick, of having two Sam Rockwells, could not have been done without CG effects, and the DVD gives some insight into just how hard it was to pull off.) This movie manages to make the theme of corporate evil and the nature of selfhood, that pops up in so many films on this list, and make it totally fresh by throwing in a horrifying twist, in which Rockwell’s character turns out to be disposable in the most literal sense.43) District 9 (2009, dir. Neill Blomkamp).The other great indie film of 2009, this quasi-documentary feels like an old-school Doctor Who story about a human turning into something unrecognizeable, wrapped around a totally savage message film. There’s seldom been a less sympathetic protagonist than Wikus, who’s a pusillanimous cog in a brutal machine — the scene where he casually slaughters alien children and jokes about the popping sound still makes me ill — but we wind up identifying with him and his plight as he’s cast out of society anyway. That makes a more powerful statement than if Wikus were a noble champion of the downtrodden from the beginning. And while Wikus finally sort of redeems himself, it’s shocking how late it comes. Plus, this is another great action movie that actually uses action sequences in an inventive way. Despite its crude stereotypes of Nigerians, this remains an important, influential film.44) Inception (2010, dir. Christopher Nolan).Like Eternal Sunshine, this film examines the nature of consciousness in a clever way that still makes sense in the end. And like Wrath Of Khan, it’s about a man who’s being swallowed up by his past, except that in this case Dom Cobb is actually haunted by a literal ghost, and he’s in constant danger of being pulled so deep into a kind of netherworld that he’ll never escape. But as a clever caper that revolves around a brilliantly inventive new technology and keeps reinventing itself every few minutes, Inception does what only the truly great science fiction films pull off: it makes science fiction a nexus of different genres, in which every genre is enriched by its contact with the speculative.45) Looper (2012, dir. Rian Johnson)Here’s another great time-travel movie, in which a man is at war with himself in a kind of echo of?Twelve Monkeys. Once again, Bruce Willis goes back in time—but in this universe, you can actually change the future through your actions in the past. (As proved by a horrific mutilation scene early on in the film.) Willis wants to fix his mistakes by rewriting history, but finds out that it’s not that simple. The transition from the citified first half to the countrified second half is beautiful and marks a shift in our understanding of the film’s story as a whole.46) Her (2013, Spike Jonze)We dithered about whether to include this film, because it’s sort of a flawed gem. But it’s also a hugely important film about our relationship with technology and how our devices are changing us and making us both smarter and more dependent. In a future where your smartphone really is smarter than you are, what does it mean to fall in love with your technology? And can that technology really love us back, the way we want it to?47) Predestination (2014, dir. Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig)And here’s a sort of companion piece to?Looperand?Twelve Monkeys—the Spierig Brothers took Robert A. Heinlein’s classic, definining story of time travel and transformation, and actually managed to turn it into a powerful, satisfying movie. What makes this film more than just the clever closed-loop time travel scenario its title implies is the intense performance from Sarah Snook as the “Unwed Mother.”48) Guardians of the Galaxy (2014, dir. James Gunn)Like?Galaxy Quest, this is a space comedy that manages to be a great space movie in its own right. The “group of misfits have to band together to stop a cosmic threat” storyline has seldom been captured in such a thrilling, and heart-breaking fashion. This movie somehow makes an assortment of weird creatures, including a raccoon and a tree, feel more vivid and personally relevant than most movies manage to make flesh-and-blood humans.49) Ex Machina (2015, dir. Alex Garland)Like?Her, this is a vital film about our relationship with technology, and it asks the key questions that we’re all struggling with in our Twitterpated era. In this case, instead of a smartphone in love, it’s an android who’s irresistibly beautiful and vulnerable. A man goes to a secret A.I. lab in the middle of nowhere to meet a machine that can think for itself—not realizing that he, not she, is the experiment.50) The Martian (2015, dir. Ridley Scott)And finally, we just saw a brand new science fiction masterpiece. Like?Gravity?(which we almost included on this list as well) this is a brutal, immersive film about surviving away from Earth. But it’s also a wonderful celebration of the ingenuity and cleverness of a man who’s stranded alone on Mars and has to figure out how to survive by his wits alone. The humor and desperation make this movie a rollercoaster ride, as much as its thrilling visuals.Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff. Thanks also to Alasdair Wilkins, Meredith Woerner, Wes Siler, Jamie Condliffe, Jennifer Ouellette, George Dvorsky, Andrew Liptak, Darren Orf, Germain Lussier, Matt Novak, Carlos Rebato, Kaila Hale-Stern, Cheryl Eddy, Brent Rose, Maddie Stone, Carlos Zahumensky, Diane Kelly, Attila Nagy and Mario Aguilar for the suggestions!A version of this list first appeared in 2010.??Movie: MS after movies I want to watch Cries of cinema’s?death knell?rang out among critics and journalists tracking this year’s poor-performing sequels and reboots. If franchises form Hollywood studios’ bedrock,?one might assume American movies are in trouble. Look closer, and you’ll see, as far as quality is concerned, that’s not true at all.?Worthwhile films barreled into theaters left and right, so much so that I dare say 2016 was a fantastic year at the movies, if you knew where to look. Making a best-of list was so difficult that I couldn’t even stop at 20. I want you to see all of these! What are you waiting for?21?“Pete’s Dragon”DisneyAs the summer blockbuster season drew to a close, “Pete’s Dragon” was thewarm blanket?needed to shield ourselves from all the explosive mediocrity. Wrap yourself in Disney’s finest live-action reimagining yet,?an earnest adventure that pits childlike wonder against greedy profiteering. When townsfolk discover little orphan Pete (Oakes Fegley) in the?forest, they decide his colossal green friend should be caged and displayed like a tourist attraction. From the wilderness to the quaint town surrounding it,?“Pete’s Dragon” roves with a splendor that opposes the cynical forces working against our heroes.?Movies like this one, directed by David Lowery, insist?that sometimes, in the midst of desperation, sweetness prevails.20?“Hidden Figures”FoxWhen the United States raced the Soviet Union to space in the 1960s, it did so with the efforts?of three black women who crunched the necessary calculations more proficiently than any of the white men they worked for. “Hidden Figures” tells their story. Amid?a glut of comic-book mishaps on the big screen this year, these are the superheroes we need. Delightful and affecting, Theodore Melfi’s movie — starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe — reminds us that talent too often suffers at the hands of the system. You’ll forgive the film?if it favors blunt summations over risky nuances. When something is this damn watchable, who cares?19?“Silence”ParamountRaised in a strict Catholic household, Martin Scorsese has always explored themes of guilt and atonement in his work. “Silence” may be the movie he was born to make. The director first began eying?an adaptation of Shūsaku Endō’s novel of the same name?in 1990. Starring Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as 17th-century Portuguese priests who travel to a violently anti-Christian part of Japan to locate their mentor (Liam Neeson), “Silence” offers 161 minutes of acute, profound questions about religious conviction.?How much persecution can the most devout person handle? Is it worth it? Scorsese grapples with these queries using the utmost serenity.?18?“The Lobster” MSA24To realize “The Lobster” is merely the second-best dystopian satire that Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has?concocted is to grasp?that we are blessed to live in a world with?Yorgos Lanthimos movies. His finest offering is still 2009’s “Dogtooth,” a weird little story about three teenagers who know nothing of the world beyond their parents’ compound. In “The Lobster,” it’s the near-future, and adults who go 45 days without a partner are transformed into animals. Featuring appropriately droll performances from?Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly, Ben Whishaw and Léa Seydoux, this dark comedy ironizes?modern romance conventions?and the idea that partnerships are?life’s game point. It turns?dating into a toleration state, housed in a hotel where people?go?as a last-ditch attempt to find a mate?before the clock strikes. Captured with?graceful eccentricity, “The Lobster” bends expectations to become one of the year’s most interesting films.17?“The Edge of Seventeen”STX EntertaimentWe tend to talk about teen movies in terms of how realistic they are, how well they capture the adolescent experience. Maybe it’s?because, for so many, that time of life is?volatile. But teen movies rarely get it right.?“The Edge of Seventeen” does. Kelly Fremon Craig, who wrote and directed the film, has created a tart-tongued but infinitely relatable protagonist — fed-up junior Nadine Franklin (a great Hailee Steinfeld) — who too often feels the world has it out for her.?When Nadine’s only friend (Haley Lu Richardson) starts?dating Nadine’s popular older brother (Blake Jenner), her?limited world comes crashing down. We’re with her every step of the way, recognizing her irascibilities and appreciating her flaws.16?“Krisha”A24There’s nothing more terrifying than the voices that rattle around our heads. For “Krisha,” first-time director Trey Edward Shults cast his 64-year-old aunt, Krisha Fairchild, as the titular addict overcome by the noise of her troubled past. Krisha arrives at her semi-estranged family’s Thanksgiving celebration with?an arsenal of nerves and good intentions. Unfortunately, she can’t escape her own neuroses. As Krisha unravels, Shults’?micro-budget psychodrama?grows more claustrophobic. We leap inside Krisha’s conflicted head in a manner reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman and John Cassavetes classics. There’s no moral certainty when it comes to Krisha’s demons — there is only the nightmare that she has created.15?“Elle”Sony Pictures ClassicsMorally complicated and relentlessly absorbing, “Elle” doesn’t let you off easy. Its ideas about rape and the power of sexuality will kick around long after theIsabelle Huppert showcase?fades to black. Playing a sexual assault victim who ignites?a sort of cat-and-mouse game with her aggressor, Huppert is the lifeblood of Paul Verhoeven’s film. It’s a master-class performance that nails the movie’s postfeminist tightrope walk.14?“Paterson” MSBleecker StreetEven if the title character’s poetry weren’t scrawled across the screen, Jim Jarmusch’s “Paterson” would still unfurl?like a cinematic poem. Or maybe it’s better described as a dream set to the tune of quotidian sensitivity. Adam Driver is understated and fantastic as Paterson, a bus driver living in Paterson, New Jersey, who scribbles observational?verse about his daily encounters: overheard conversations, patterns, routines, small-town complacency and the love he shares with his ambitious, quirky wife (Golshifteh Farahani). Oh, and?there’s?also Marvin, a scene-stealing bulldog who might wish Paterson dead.?13?“The Fits”Oscilloscope LaboratoriesIn a snug 72 minutes, Anna Rose Holmer accomplishes more than some filmmakers?do in two hours. “The Fits” eases into a narrative about Toni (newcomer Royalty Hightower), an 11-year-old whose dance-team cohort begins experiencing violent convulsions.?With every passing moment, “The Fits” becomes more surprising. The camera loves Hightower, who makes a captivating guide in a tiny movie so well photographed (by Paul Yee) that it appears to have cost 10 times its reported $170,000 budget. Its final five minutes are some of the best on screen this year.12?“Weiner”Sundance SelectsThe mere idea that “Weiner” exists is flooring. That its relevance swelled as the year progressed is ghastly and miraculous. In making the documentary,?Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg sought to capture Anthony Weiner’s comeback campaign. When another sexting scandal broke, the directors were instead?privy to a career combusting in real time. They also witnessed a bona fide narcissist’s flagrancy surge?at the expense of?his more astute?wife.?“Weiner” both humanizes and chides its title subject — or maybe he does that all by himself. Either way, this is the most revealing piece of political theater since “The War Room.”11?“Love & Friendship” MSRoadside AttractionsSee “Love & Friendship” twice. In fact, see it three times.?You’ll discover a new layer of jokes upon each viewing of?Whit Stillman’s tart comedy.?The Jane Austen adaptation casts Kate Beckinsale as a manipulative Regency widow seeking to remarry so she and her daughter (Emma Greenwell) can secure their wealth.?She finds a suitor in Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), a well-meaning fool who turns every encounter into a verbal pratfall. (His banter about peas is one?of the year’s funniest scenes.) Stillman’s script is razor-sharp, infused with keen social observances dressed up in spiked putdowns. And those costumes! “Love & Friendship” truly is full-package entertainment.10?“Arrival” MSParamountAs long as Amy Adams is saving the world,?I’ll be there. Apparently, so will you: “Arrival” is a rare box-office hit that has also stoked awards esteem. If movie culture is floundering in America, it’s projects like this that reinvigorate the glory of cinema. A cerebral sci-fi psalm that links?empathy with peace, Denis Villeneuve’s film charts the emotional currency of a skilled linguist recruited to find out why?a handful of large extraterrestrial?pods have landed across Earth. Adams isn’t about?to let us down. The reason the aliens visit is twisty and profound, doubly so thanks to Bradford Young’s crawling cinematography and?Jóhann Jóhannsson’s ghostly score.9?“La La Land” MSLionsgate“La La Land” reminds us why we go to the movies. A?dazzling display of charisma, Damien Chazelle’s musical blends fanciful escapism with the bittersweet realities of life beyond?the big screen. Third time’s the charm for Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, who reunite to dance and romance through the streets of Los Angeles. They play aspiring artists desperate for someone to lift them off the ground, but the experience of “La La Land” does just as much to lift?us off the ground. With the help of Linus Sandgren’s cinematography and Davis Waso’s production design, the color palette sizzles with the same enthusiasm as Justin Hurwitz’s music. Chazelle has crafted a film that flourishes at every turn, the kind you’ll want to watch again and again.8?“The Witch” MSA24Was there a more savage screen villain this year than Black Phillip? The demonic goat ravaged the already tormented Puritan family at the center of?“The Witch,” an?eerie tale about 17th-century religious paranoia. In Robert Eggers’ debut feature, we witness an isolated clan facing dying crops and the mysterious disappearance of their newborn. Naturally, they turn on one another. Are their fears real or imagined? Are they delusional?in accusing eldest daughter Thomasin (the stunning Anya Taylor-Joy) of?colluding with the devil? Basking in Mark Korven’s spine-chilling strings score, “The Witch” balks at the world’s unforgiving?adherence to doctrine. Life, after all, is better lived deliciously. Black Philip knows.7?“Manchester by the Sea”Roadside AttractionsKenneth Lonergan writes dialogue that burrows into the most authentic?facets?of humanity. Lonergan views life as a tragicomedy, and “Manchester by the Sea” may be his magnum opus. The story of Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), a Massachusetts handyman who’s become a shell of himself in the wake of personal loss, “Manchester” punctuates aching tragedy with uproarious relief. It moves at the perfect emotional tempo, treating grief as a phenomenon that rises and falls like waves.?When Lee?must decide if he will care for his nephew (Lucas Hedges, remarkable) after Lee’s only sibling (Kyle Chandler) dies, the relics of his past resurface, including his relationship with his concerned?ex-wife (Michelle Williams). “Manchester” is a?heavy affair?that isn’t weighed down by its own sadness — it bathes in its characters’ heartache, but ultimately rises above it.6?“Little Men”Magnolia PicturesIn?Ira Sachs’ movies, the ideals of love blur with the misfortunes of prosaic reality. “Little Men” focuses on the platonic romance between?an introverted illustrator (Theo Taplitz) and a gregarious actor (Michael Barbieri), both 13-year-olds in gentrifying Brooklyn. When the?pals?band together to protest their parents’ business dispute, “Little Men” celebrates their precociousness without shying away from the immaturity of everyone involved in the conflict. It is a tiny film that affords its characters?the immense social and economic stakes they deserve. The snapshot of life’s intersecting pathways steeps itself in feelings both spoken and implicit. It also forms one of the?most intricate outlines?of male friendshipever committed to the big screen.5?“American Honey” MSA24In “American Honey,” pop songs forge the soundtrack of liberation. Our aimless protagonist, Star (newcomer Sasha Lane), wanders into a supermarket, halting at the sight of young misfits?leaping?onto the checkout counters while Rihanna’s “We Found Love” reverberates through the store. Star abandons her destitute reality and follows this?traveling magazine sales crew to hopeless places,?roving through the American heartland to escape rotten?alternatives. As the open road takes them from one seedy motel and booze-soaked field party to the next, British director Andrea Arnold?takes us on a?lawless expedition?that locates beauty and blight at every turn. Star finds ostensible love in Jake (Shia LaBeouf), a feral charmer indebted to the group’s acerbic den mother (Riley Keough). More importantly, she finds herself, or as much as she can muster as an ambling teenager fleeing spiritual and economic impoverishment. As Star takes?comfort in her?makeshift family, “American Honey” swirls forward with ravishing?impact.4?“Loving”Focus FeaturesIn the hands of most filmmakers, “Loving” would end with a flurry of galvanizing hurrays.?Via?Jeff Nichols’ delicate touch, this civil-rights sonnet?about the couple whose 1960s Supreme Court case legalized interracial marriage culminates in a quiet victory devoid of melodrama. The movie?remains faithful to Richard and Mildred Loving, the mild-mannered Virginia plaintiffs?who sought?peace, not fame. In two of the year’s most subtle performances, Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton ground the couple’s battle, reminding us that equality is achieved in soft increments.3?“20th Century Women”A24In “20th Century Women,” it takes a village of three ladies?and one handyman to raise a teenager (Lucas Jade Zumann) who wasn’t so lost?to begin with.?Annette Bening’s soul-searching California mama feels more distant from her son?every day, and she recruits?a small army (played by Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning and Billy Crudup) to help steer?his maturation. Mike Mills’?hilarious, vibrant filmbecomes, above all, a meditation on the passage of time. The action unfolds in 1979, suffused with punk-rock turf wars and a televised “crisis of confidence.” But the story stretches far beyond a pinpoint in history. Like a wave, it curls forwards?and backwards, celebrating every current of life’s evolution.2?“Moonlight”A24Perhaps the best thing about?Barry Jenkins’ masterpiece?is the shared experience of consuming it.?When encountering someone who has seen “Moonlight,” the first thing I wonder?is which of its three chapters that person prefers. Each section explores?a new phase for?Chiron, a poor Miami boy grappling with his sexuality in a culture that issues strictures about black masculinity. The triptych grows more specific, more sublime, more sincere. James Laxton’s tranquil cinematography emphasizes the most intimate details of Chiron’s experience — his young?hand sinking into the sand, his strung-out?mother screaming in his face, his gaze lingering on an old friend. Ordinary moments of bliss feel magnified, and magnificent moments of conflict feel ordinary. Our sympathy deepens. As Chiron grows up, so do we.1?“Jackie” MSFox SearchlightNo movie this year has rattled me like “Jackie,” a?crisscross of political?folklore and?intricate grief. Nothing else has shifted my perspective on Americanmythmaking?or the limitlessness of cinematic storytelling. Pablo Larraín stations his camera tight on Natalie Portman’s face, using extreme close-ups to document the rage that Jacqueline Kennedy shed?to bury her husband while the world watched. Forever surrounded by vultures arbitrating her worthiness, her appearance and her politics, Jackie — as portrayed by a career-best Portman — processes JFK’s 1963 assassination in ways that will forever?define?the Kennedy legacy. In this piercing psychodrama, she becomes the master of ceremonies, trapped in anguish she never summoned. With a script by Noah Oppenheim that’s at once sprawling and alarmingly intimate, as well as a wailing score by Mica Levi, “Jackie” is a fierce act of filmmaking. It’s bold, heartbreaking and revolutionary — just like Jackie Kennedy herself.And a few more recommendations, because why not:??“Cameraperson” [dir. Kirsten Johnson].?A meta celebration of life around the globe, this documentary probes a filmmaker’s relationship with her subjects.??“The Handmaiden” [dir. Park Chan-wook].?A twisty erotic thriller set in 1930s Korea, this deceptive tale about a conman’s attempts to steal a Japanese heiress’ fortune will shock you. MS??“I Am Not Your Negro” [dir. Raoul Peck].?This essential documentary traces the civil-rights moments through the words of James Baldwin.??“The Invitation” [dir. Karyn Kusama].?A well-paced chiller about a cultish dinner party, this movie has one of the year’s best endings MS.??“Little Sister” [dir. Zach Clark].?When a young nun (Addison Timlin) returns home to her dysfunctional family, she revisits her goth adolescence as the Bush era draws to a close. The results are smart and humorous.??“Things to Come” [dir. Mia Hansen-L?ve].?In the year’s second Isabelle Huppert stunner, the actress plays a philosopher facing domestic upheaval.?Literary releases[edit]Novels[edit]Version Control, by Dexter PalmerSleeping Giants, by Sylvain NeuvelThe Everything Box, by?Richard KadreyJoin, by Steve ToutonghiThe Swarm?by?Orson Scott Card?and Aaron JohnsonBabylon's Ashes?by?James S.A. CoreyTake Back the Sky?by?Greg Bear71?by?David BrinMorning Star?by?Pierce BrownStories collections[edit]Short stories[edit]Comics[edit]Audiovisual productions[edit]Movies[edit] bolded saw in theater 10 Cloverfield Lane, by?Dan TrachtenbergArrival, by?Denis Villeneuve?and?Eric HeissererThe Divergent Series: Allegiant, by?Robert SchwentkeEquals, by?Drake DoremusThe 5th Wave, by?J BlakesonThe Glass Fortress, by?Alain BourretIndependence Day: Resurgence, by?Roland Emmerich[1]Midnight Special, by?Jeff NicholsMorgan, by?Luke ScottPassengers, by?Morten TyldumRogue One: A Star Wars Story, by?Gareth EdwardsShin Godzilla, by?Hideaki Anno?and?Shinji HiguchiThe Space Between Us, by?Peter ChelsomStar Trek: Beyond, by?Justin Lin[2]Television series[edit]11.22.63, by?Bridget Carpenter3%, by?Pedro AguileraThe Expanse?by Mark Fergus, Hawk OstbyStranger Things, by the?Duffer Brothers(French)?Trepalium, by Antarès Bassis, Sophie Hiet and?(French)?Vincent LannooThe OA, by?Brit Marling?and?Zal BatmanglijTravelers, by?Brad WrightWestworld, by?Jonathan NolanThe X-Files (season 10), by?Chris Carter ................
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