This Week: Hanks brings the brilliance again in Sully, sibling rivalry with Oasis: Supersonic, and the Magnificent Seven ride again.
► Clint Eastwood’s absolutely riveting SULLY took some shots for how it depicted the National Transportation Safety Board, and its investigation into pilot Chesley Sullenberger after he safely landed a faltering plane onto the Hudson River in 2009. It’s about the only quibble you’ll find in this depiction of an incredible split second decision which likely prevented 155 deaths. And it’s in that moment when Tom Hanks, as Sully, hears the news that everyone survived that he reels you in again – that little quiver in his lip, that crack in his voice. It’s just Hanks being amazing again, and after being outright robbed in recent years (not even nominated for ‘Bridge of Spies?’ Seriously?), this has to be his next serious run at an Oscar. Extras include a look at the real Sullenberger, and how the film recreated the splashdown on the Hudson.
► It’s pointless to rag on the remake of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN – its basic story is so timeless, it will be retold countless times. And if you’re going to remake it, you could do a lot worse than Antoine Fuqua directing. A crowd-pleaser which predictably under performed at the box office (westerns are like a plague these days), it gathers Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and Fuqua mainstay Denzel Washington as a group of misfits hired to protect a mining town from a ruthless industrialist (Peter Sarsgaard). Owes plenty to recent superhero movies, but then again, superhero comics in the ‘60s were heavily influenced by the original film. Has some of the last music James Horner ever composed for film. Extras include deleted scenes and Fuqua breaking down some key moments.
► Executive produced by ‘Amy’ Oscar winner Asif Kapadia, OASIS: SUPERSONIC looks at the chaotic three year period in the early ‘90s when Oasis was the biggest UK band since The Beatles. Funny, obnoxious and loaded with killer tunes, brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher were impossibly huge – playing to 250,000 people at Knebworth just three years after signing a record contract – but their disdain for each other ensured it was a short ride. The documentary stops at 1996, so we don’t see how bitter it ended.
► ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ aside, Rob Zombie doesn’t make horror movies. He makes prolonged exercises in sleaze. All of them are as unpleasant as they are inept, hitting a new low with 31. Set in 1976, it has a group of carnival workers taken to a building full of mazes on Halloween, where they must elude a group of psychotic clowns who – per rules of the game – have 12 hours to hunt and torture them. Chief among them is a sicko named Doom-Head, who doesn’t play by the rules. Once again stars Zombie’s wife Sherri Moon, along with Malcolm McDowell and (what is she doing here?) Meg Foster.
► Just 13 days after it aired on NBC, HAIRSPRAY LIVE! Hits DVD. Filmed on the Universal back lot, it brought back the choreographer of the original 2002 Broadway musical, based on the 1988 flick. Not to be left out, there’s also a bit of the 2007 movie in here. This one has unknown college student Maddie Baillio stepping in as Tracy, starring alongside Jennifer Hudson, Martin Short, Harvey Fierstein and Kristin Chenoweth. There’s also Rosie O’Donnell and Billy Eichner in minor roles. Watch for Ricki Lake from the first film and Marissa Janet Winokir from the Broadway version in cameos.
► The documentary DOOMED! looks at Roger Corman’s ill-fated Fantastic Four movie made in the early ‘90s, which got shelved because of its awfulness and then found a following when illegal copies started circulating on VHS. Cast and crew recall the entire disaster, which Stan Lee confirmed was made only so German producer Bernd Eichinger could retain the rights. Extras include a cast 2015 panel discussion and unused Roger Corman footage. Not in stores – produced on demand through Amazon.
► STORKS was one of the year’s middle-of-the-pack animated flicks – not a flop, but buried by other much bigger family fare. Written and co-directed by Nicholas Stoller (‘The Muppet Movie’), the busy plot follows a junior stork employee (Andy Samberg) at a company which used to deliver babies, but now delivers parcels. When the dormant baby factory is accidentally activated, he makes it his mission to deliver a little girl before the boss (Kelsey Grammer) gets wise. Also with the voices of Jennifer Aniston, Danny Trejo and Key & Peele. Extras include the animated short ‘Storks: Guide to Your New Baby,’ and a LEGO Ninjago shortie.
► In 1962, French filmmaker Francois Truffaut did several lengthy interviews with Alfred Hitchcock for a book. Kent Jones’ documentary HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT revisits the original recordings, and adds new insights from Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Wes Anderson and others. Extras include a Q&A with Jones and Noah Baumbach, an appreciation of Hitchcock’s early film ‘Notorious,’ the pros and cons of ‘Rope,’ and Richard Linklater on Traffaut.
Also out this week:
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