Happy Thursday, everyone! The nice thing about going to a work conference on Monday & Tuesday is the week feels shorter than it is, so tomorrow is Friday already, yay!
I got to see Jason Bourne press screening last Tuesday. I enjoyed it quite a bit though I think it falls short of the excellent trilogy. I’ll review it next week but I’m still a bit giddy for THIS scene in Vegas, whoah!
Ok how about those links!
I’ll be seeing Suicide Squad next Tuesday, and Harley Quinn is likely going to steal every scene. Check out Margaret‘s tribute for Margot Robbie‘s character.
Jordan reviewed a new Aussie Western Goldstone
Boy I had no idea this movie even existed! Allie talks about Star Wars Holiday Special as part of Christmas-In-July blogathon
Mark and Getter‘s reviewed Independence Day: Resurgence. Not surprisingly, neither was impressed with this movie though I was surprised to learn Getter actually think Liam Hemsworth was good in it
Having just seen Jason Bourne, I totally agree with Nick that the Bourne movies are equally defined by the obligatory government antagonist. Check out the five actors he’d like to see in the role.
Steven reviewed Richard Linklater’s latest Everybody Want Some!
Let’s top it off with two awesome list posts! Alex posted his top 10 films of 2016 so far, whilst Dan posted his picks of 10 favorite French rom-coms of the 21st century.
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Life must be good to be Jessica Chastain. I love her, she’s gorgeous, talented and a bit underrated. Glad to see her continue getting roles and man does she have the best male co-stars or what! Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, James McAvoy, Oscar Isaac… just to name a few, and now Idris!!! [yes clearly I’m green w/ envy] I’d LOVE to see her co-star with my crush du jour Sam Riley one day 😛
Per The Playlist, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is going to have his directorial debut and he’ll also write the screenplay. His film is titled Molly’s Game and Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba have been cast as the leads!
Molly’s Game is the true story of Molly Bloom (Chastain), a beautiful, young, Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally is her criminal defense lawyer (Elba), who learns that there’s much more to Molly than the tabloids lead us to believe.
I really like the sound of this! Chastain and Elba such talented actors and it’s a role that would suit them both. No talks of romance between the two but that’s actually refreshing! Though the idea of a love scene between the two sounds pretty scorching 😉 I just hope they won’t ever hide that gorgeous face of his under a ton of makeup like they did in Thor or Star Trek Beyond.
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Now this one doesn’t seem exciting on paper as I don’t really care for video game movies. But with this cast it just could be watchable. Per Variety, Jake Gyllenhaal is producing a video game adaptation based on Ubisoft’s The Division.
Set in a dystopian New York City in the aftermath of a smallpox pandemic, the player is an agent of the Strategic Homeland Division. That agent is tasked with helping to rebuild the Division’s operations in Manhattan, investigating the nature of the outbreak and combating criminal activity in its wake.
Not sure which roles Jessica Chastain will be playing. Of course it’d be neat if Jessica is the agent and Jake plays her ally, or villain? Speaking of video game movies, we have Assassin’s Creed starring Michael Fassbender out in December and Tom Hardy’s Splinter Cell out next year. It remains to be seen if any of those would actually be worth watching.
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I’ll probably go see Jason Bourne sometime this weekend but I’m bit concern about the not so good ratings on Rottentomatoes. Hopefully it won’t be anything like The Bourne Legacy.
I’m into poker so I’ve heard stories about Molly Bloom, let’s see what kind of movie Sorkin can make out of her life story. Ruth you know it’s taboo to even think of seeing a non-white actor having a sex scene with a white actress on the big screen, the studio heads would never let that happen! Lol!
I don’t even remember the last time I saw a good movie based on video game, maybe Mortal Kombat was the last one. I have no interest in seeing Assassin’s Creed, it looks too much like well a video game instead of film.
I don’t always trust Rotten Tomatoes, I mean the way they aggregate the reviews are not accurate. I like it more than Star Trek Beyond, even though the hand-held camera work is a bit excessive. But man, Greengrass sure knows how to shoot action/chase scenes, I was giddy watching that whole Vegas scene!
Ahah, it’s sad isn’t it how racist Hollywood still is. Yep, that’s why we hardly see Elba in a biracial romance, which is just stupid as surely it’d be extremely popular. I mean LOOK AT THE GUY! 😉
Yep, video game movies rarely (read: never) work well as movies. But of course Hollywood will keep on trying!
I don’t really listen to the critics most of the time but in the last couple of years, I tend to be in agreement with the ratings on Rottentomatoes, especially The Bourne Legacy. I thought for sure most of the critics didn’t like it because it didn’t have Greengrass and Damon, but boy I regret paying to see it. I’m so looking forward to the chase scene in the Vegas strip, I’ve been in that city so many times, it feels like home to me.
Well not just Hollywood that’s racist, some people out there who still can’t get past seeing interracial couples in real life, so they would never want to see it on the big screen. I remember in The Pelican Brief, Denzel’s character was supposed to be a love interest to Julia Roberts’ character but they rewrote his character to be more of a brother figure when he’s cast. In the book, they’re lovers.
Well Bourne Legacy sucks because Renner is no Damon. I think it’d have been a decent thriller if it didn’t try to be a Bourne flick. I think in terms of chase scene, the one in the 2nd movie w/ Karl Urban is still my fave but this Vegas one certainly is thrilling. There’s also a mano-a-mano after that which I think you’d like.
Wow, I didn’t know that about Pelican Brief. You’re right a lot of moviegoers still can’t quite accept biracial romances. Even in a white and black person romance, the black person is almost always half-white.
That scene in Bourne looks insane.
But…you think Chastain is underrated? Err…where have you been? She’s possibly the most overrated actress working right now. LOL…I’m so over her.
HEHE…BUT, I’m all about Elba in more movies, so amen to that!
Well if Chastain isn’t underrated, I certainly don’t think she’s overrated. I’d think someone like oh I dunno, Margot Robbie is getting to be overrated now. I love the idea of her and Idris, but yeah Idris in anything is always a great idea.
Thanks for the link! OMG YOU’RE SEEING IT TUESDAY!? Tweet me as soon as you see it and tell me what you thought! i really hope it will be great!
That Elba/Chastain movie seems pretty good!
Yeah next Tuesday, I think it opens the following Friday here in the US. I hope it’ll be great too, the hype has been insane so I hope it’ll at least live up to it.
Thanks for the link-love. It’s good to be Jessica Chastain as seeing her with Idris Elba in my opinion is…. $$$$$$$$$$$$$
Amen Steven! I think this is a fabulous pairing.
I’m looking forward to Jason Bourne, it looks like good fun. I’m all for that Elba/Chastain casting too!
I enjoyed it too, but of course the critics hate it. But then again I don’t always trust major critics anyway. That Elba/Chastain movie needs to happen soon! I like the premise of that, too.
Missed my shot at seeing Jason Bourne this week so it will probably be Tuesday. Anxious to see it despite the mediocre reviews it has been getting.
Really like both bits of casting news. Chastain and Elba in a Sorkin directorial debut? Yep, I’m in!
Also really interested to see if The Division works. It is a game that seems perfect for a big screen adaptation. I guess we’ll see if that translates into a good movie.
I enjoyed Jason Bourne though I admit it’s not as good as the trilogy. But hey, Damon is still bad ass!
Yeah, what a cast Sorkin has assembled for his directorial debut! So I presume you’ve played The Division? I have yet to see a great video game film, so we’ll see but I do like the Jake/Jessica pairing as well, though the Idris one still won by a long margin!
Hey Ruth! Thanks so much for the link, I really appreciate it! I LOVED that Vegas chase scene in Jason Bourne. That SWAT vehicle stuff was insane!
My pleasure Alex! Glad to hear you enjoyed that scene in Jason Bourne, I thought the action throughout was pretty thrilling.
A little disappointed to hear Jason Bourne isn’t as great as the trilogy. That Vegas car scene gets me excited though.
I’m really iffy on more video game movies. Maybe Assassin’s Creed will surprise but I’m not holding my breath. Molly’s Game sound more interesting to me, it could be a good project for Chastain.
Hi Eddie! If you’re a big fan of the franchise I think it’s still well worth a watch. I still enjoyed it, way more than than Bourne Legacy that’s for sure and the various chase scenes still thrilled me.
Yep, I’m not all that excited about Assassin’s Creed either, but that ‘Molly’s Game’ sounds promising on the director AND casting front.
I love Chastain. I think she’s very talented. Certain directors bring out the best in her. I’ve never been disappointed! Elba–another solid actor. I’m looking forward to Molly’s Game. Probably will wait to rent Bourne.
Glad you love Chastain too, yes I think she’s very talented and has that touch of Old Hollywood about her, too. Elba is just gorgeous and immensely charming, I’m always glad to see him cast in ANYTHING. Are you a fan of the Bourne trilogy? I love them, perhaps my fave Matt Damon role ever, so even if this new one is just ok, I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
I watched the first three and while I liked them, I didn’t LOVE them. Not like the Mission Impossible franchise.
Yeah the Mission franchise is slightly more enjoyable for me as well, as it’s more of a team instead of just one guy.
Saw Jason Bourne this week too, and yeah that scene was pretty fun. Will be posting my review soon aswell.
Not sure about The Division, it is a video-game adaptation which is an immediate red flag but with Gyllenhaal and Chastain, who knows? could be good.
Hi Khalid, I’ll be writing my review of Jason Bourne tomorrow, but generally I enjoyed it. Seems that the critics aren’t loving it but then again I don’t always agree w/ them.
Yeah, video game movies are rarely good, but who knows though, maybe one of these days someone could break the *curse* somehow.
Looking forward to it. And had similar thoughts to yours but I think the movie had some flaws that held it back
Watched Bourne yesterday and felt slightly disappointed (especially by the Las Vegas chase, which felt like it belonged in another film), review will be up later today
Hi Nostra! Oh really? Bourne films are known for the car chases so I think it very much belonged in the movie. Sounds like we might be in disagreement about Jason Bourne, but hey that’s ok.
Yeah, car chases are part of it, but they are supposed to be realistic and that chase simply wasn’t. That SWAT car was like a tank…
Thanks as always for the free publicity! That Bourne gif has me excited to see it!
Pleasure Mark! Got my Jason Bourne review done to post later tonight 😉
Great to see the French rom-com top 10 proving to be a hit. Thanks Ruth!
That was a great list, Dan! I love French comedies, I only wish my French crush Stanley Weber had been in one of these. Interestingly enough, I discovered him in a Scottish rom-com!