BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) KILLING THEM SOFTLY
There isn’t too much out there about this movie, but it’s going to be good. Brad Pitt is a look out for a hitman that gets in over his head. It’s based off a novel from 1974 and Pitt is producing as well. The cast is broadened with Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, and Sam Shepard. It’s getting good early reviews and the preview clips they’ve put out are really intriguing. You can just tell that this is a role and film made to showcase the skills of Brad Pitt. I really think these are the movies he strives in. The harder edged, more in your face gritty movies are clearly his forte. I’m looking forward to this one.
(THREE) THE WORDS
Bradley Cooper has tons of potential. Cooper did awesome in supporting roles over the years. He has been in a fair amount of leading roles and has done a good job with it. Of course he has had the big hits in “The Hangover” franchise. Bradley Cooper takes the lead here in a summer thriller. It looks interesting and I dig the effort in pushing something more cerebral than normal suit and tie political stuff. The story is about a floundering writer who can’t get his shit together. After failing to the point of no return he steals an older man’s work. We are told there is a price for this. It looks really good. The cast is strong with the likes of Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana, Dennis Quaid, JK Simmons, and others. The premise is interesting and the look of it looks compelling. I probably won’t watch this as soon as it’s released, but I can’t imagine my path not crossing with this movie before too long.
(TWO) GANGSTER SQUAD
These types of movies normally don’t interest me. The trailer for Gangster Squad sold me though. I really want to see this movie. It’s a 1940’s crime film. Old mafia/gangster period pieces are nothing new, but they put a unique twist on this one. I always felt movies like Godfather, Casino, and Goodfellas romanticize the idea of being a bad guy and a criminal. This movie comes from the other side of the law. Sean Penn plays Mickey Cohen, a bad ass mafia guy who is dominating Los Angeles at the time. He’s running the town and the law is in his pocket. Enter what looks to be a vigilante group fed up with the bullshit. The cast has Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Mackie, Robert Patrick, Nick Nolte, and like a dozen other familiar and capable performers. It’s a loaded cast, an old school mafia storyline, and it’s going to do quite well for itself if the promo for it is anything like this trailer. Not since “Three Amigos” have I seen people go gangsta on the gangsters. Cool!
(ONE) SAVAGES
This looks intense. Oliver Stone is one of the better directors out there. I can think of a more than a few of his movies that I really love. He’s got a certain knack for creating a world and he takes more chances than most young gritty indie filmmakers and the critic darlings. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You can’t deny the guy’s balls though. This newest movie looks like it’s going to be bad ass. It’ a crime thriller with a great cast. A hippie girl is kidnapped and two marijuana growers go balls out to get her back. This means getting into shit with the Mexican drug cartel, the DEA, and I’m sure a lot more. The hippie people are Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, and Blake Lively. All three have done good work in the past, but I would imagine this will be the top of their resumes once it gets out. Other notables are John Travolta, Salma Hayek, Benicio del Toro, and Uma Thurman. And this is all based on a true story? My expectations are high, hopefully not too high.
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