Posts tagged chase
“Now You See Me” Misdirection in Its Own Right
Jun 9th
“Misdirection in Its Own Right”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Now You See Me combines the genres of a movie about magicians with a heist movie, and it ends up with an example of more is less.
Even the appearances of Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine can’t pull this movie out of the doldrums.
The story begins when four magicians who each have different specialties are all summoned to a locked apartment in New York City which is full of clues that they have to figure out in order to learn why they were summoned.
The four magicians are Daniel, played by Jesse Eisenberg, who is a master of misdirection; Henley, played by Isla Fisher, who is Daniel’s former assistant; Merritt, played by Woody Harrelson, who is a mentalist; and Jack, played by Dave Franco, who is an expert at card tricks.
Incidentally, Dave Franco is the brother of James Franco.
Then we shift to one year later in Las Vegas, the four now call themselves The Four Horsemen, and they put on a spectacular show in a casino, where Daniel announces, “Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we are going to rob a bank!”
Well, not only do they rob a bank of 32 million Euros, but the bank is in Paris, France, and the robbery occurs during the show with the assistance of a man pulled at random from out of the audience.
Now the FBI gets involved with Agent Dylan Rhodes, played by Mark Ruffalo, another agent from Interpol, a woman named Alma Dray shows up to assist him, and after an interrogation that is unproductive for the authorities, The Four Horsemen are off to their next big show in New Orleans, which is publicized as the setup for their third show, the “Big Punch,” in New York City.
The thing about magic, however, is that if you know how a trick is done, you lose interest in watching that trick again, and a famous magician tells Agents Rhodes and Dray how The Four Horsemen managed to rob that bank in Paris.
The movie tries to spice things up with races through the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras, but again The Four Horsemen escape, and they are on to New York City, where a car chase through the streets and over a bridge don’t help much, either.
Now You See Me itself is all misdirection.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
The Company You Keep – Movie Trailer
Apr 28th
Jim Grant (Robert Redford) is a public interest lawyer and single father raising his daughter in the tranquil suburbs of Albany, New York. Grant’s world is turned upside down,when a brash young reporter named Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) exposes his true identity as a former 1970s antiwar radical fugitive wanted for murder. After living for more than 30 years underground, Grant must now go on the run. With the FBI in hot pursuit, he sets off on a cross-country journey to track down the one person that can clear his name.
Shepard knows the significance of the national news story he has exposed and, for a journalist, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Hell-bent on making a name for himself, he is willing to stop at nothing to capitalize on it. He digs deep into Grant’s past. Despite warnings from his editor and threats from the FBI, Shepard relentlessly tracks Grant across the country.
As Grant reopens old wounds and reconnects with former members of his antiwar group, the Weather Underground, Shepard realizes something about this man is just not adding up. With the FBI closing in, Shepard uncovers the shocking secrets Grant has been keeping for the past three decades. As Grant and Shepard come face to face in the wilderness of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, they each must come to terms with who they really are.
One of Hollywood’s most acclaimed filmmakers and actors, Oscar®- winning director Robert Redford (Ordinary People; Quiz Show; The Sting) directs and heads an all-star ensemble that includes Shia LaBeouf (Transformers: Dark of the Moon) as determined reporter Ben Shepard, and Academy Award®-winner Julie Christie (Red Riding Hood) as Mimi Lurie, the woman inescapably linked to Grant’s past and his future. The cast also includes various figures tied to Grant’s previous life as an antiwar radical: Sam Elliot (Up In The Air) as Mimi Lurie’s current partner, Mac McLeod; Oscar®-nominee Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) as respected history professor Jed Lewis; Oscar®-nominee, Nick Nolte (Warrior) as the ever-loyal Donal; and Oscar®-winner Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise; Dead Man Walking) as housewife-cum-fugitive, Sharon Solarz, whose dramatic arrest sets the story in motion.
Additional cast members include: Oscar® winner,Chris Cooper (Adaptation) as Grant’s brother, Daniel Sloan; Jackie Evancho (America’s Got Talent) as Grant’s daughter, Isabel; Golden Globe nominee Brendan Gleeson (The Guard; In Bruges) as Henry Osborne, a retired police chief harboring secrets of his own; Brit Marling (Another Earth; Sound of My Voice) as Osborne’s daughter, Rebecca; Oscar® nominee Anna Kendrick (50/50; Up in the Air) as Diana, a junior FBI agent; Oscar® nominee Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games) as Shepard’s editor, Ray Fuller; and Oscar® nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) as Cornelius, a senior FBI agent determined to bring Grant to justice.
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP is based on the novel by Neil Gordon and adapted for the screen by Lem Dobbs (Haywire). The film is directed by Robert Redford. It is produced by Academy Award® winner Nicolas Chartier (The Hurt Locker), Robert Redford and Bill Holderman (The Conspirator; Lions for Lambs). The executive producers are Craig J. Flores (Immortals) and Shawn Williamson (50/50).