Sundance Review: 'Slow West' starring Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee

There's no place for love in the harsh, barren landscape of the Old West, but apparently there's plenty of room for humor. John Maclean's inventive, witty Western Slow West is an odd stab at an oft-deconstructed genre. Certainly a good deal funnier and smarter than A Million Ways to Die in the West without making much of an effort to be so, the film also has the violence and bravado we've come to expect from the genre.

Kodi Smit-McPhee leads this Wild West oater as Jay Cavendish, a lovelorn young man traveling the merciless frontier to find his lady love, Rose Ross (Caren Pistorius). Along with her father (Rory McCann), Rose has fled to escape the law after a murder. But Jay has no clue the woman he seeks is a fugitive, he's just following where his heart leads him. Jay isn't built for the dangers he'll face and would probably die a horrible death if it weren't for Silas (Michael Fassbender), a gunslinging outlaw he encounters totally by chance. They strike a deal: Silas will accompany Jay and keep him alive for a fee, if they manage to survive.

If you've seen True Grit or any one of many Westerns about mismatched pairs on the dusty trail, then it won't be a surprise to learn Jay and Silas don't exactly start off as best buds. Silas is a killer, a shoot-first type and Jay takes issue with his approach even as it saves their lives time and again. But Silas is nothing compared to what's on their tail, including a gang of thugs led by Payne (Ben Mendelsohn), and other bounty hunters looking to collect.

Maclean slyly comments on familiar themes in the Western genre, from the inherent evil within man to the cultural devastation done to the Native Americans as this country was built. Using an economy of dialogue and striking visuals, Maclean tells a simple but soulful story that hits you with bursts of bloodshed and sharp gallows humor. Gun fights are frequent but short-lived, and each death has a certain impact on both Jay and Silas' journey. While not truly a story of redemption, as most of these "trail" movies tend to be, Slow West dispels notions of what it means to be a hero in the Old West.

Fassbender does most of his talking in narration, waxing poetically on the "jackrabbit" Jay while treating him gruffly in actual conversation. Mostly he's a man of action with a commanding countenance that meshes well with Smit-McPhee's naivete. And of course it's always great any time Mendelsohn gets to play the bad guy, although his role here is more patriarchal than flamboyantly villainous. Jed Kurzel's score fits the mercurial tone of the film, bounding between dusty guitar riffs and lightly comedic chords.  While some may complain about the movie's pacing, it's an extremely linear narrative...plus nobody can argue about false advertising. It's called Slow West for a reason.  At barely 90 minutes in length you won't care for long that the film takes its time getting where it needs to go, and that's one final, epic gunfight that again bucks our every expectation. For his directorial debut, Mclean has chosen a tough genre to crack successfully, but Slow West works on just about every level and is worth making a journey to see.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Kodi Smit-McPhee Escapes a Troubled Life in Trailer for 'All the Wilderness'

Kodi Smit-McPhee seems to bounce from one coming-of-age movie after another, he just has the perfect look for it, but he's getting some special attention for All the Wilderness. Debuting at SXSW last year, the directorial debut by Michael Johnson has McPhee as a troubled young man unable to cope with the loss of father. His mother (Virginia Madsen) can't figure out what's going on, and his shrink (Danny Devito) isn't helping much, but he finds a chance at a better life after encountering a group of isolated kids just like him.

With a release date pegged for February 20th, the first trailer for All the Wilderness has arrived. From a visual standpoint it looks incredible, almost like a music video, but it remains to be seen if there's more to set the film apart in a crowded genre. The film co-stars Isabelle Fuhrman and Evan Ross, both having spent time as part of The Hunger Games franchise.

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Review: 'Young Ones' starring Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, and Elle Fanning

It's a shame that so many attempts to blend the sci-fi and Western genres fail because the two, while seemingly polar opposites from an aesthetic standpoint, actually go together quite naturally. Jake Paltrow (Gwyneth's younger bro) seems to get it, though. His thematically sprawling and gorgeously photographed film Young Ones may be set in a post-apocalyptic future, but it's not an action movie and there are no alien space ships to be found anywhere. Any war is between men, desperate and ambitious men living in a world devoid of life's fundamental building block.

Dusty and barren; Young Ones takes on an Earth ravaged by drought. Not the kind of drought that makes Californians take shorter showers, but the kind that destroys all life. What few people remain have either scattered to the big cities or scattered to the wind, but stubborn Earnest Holm refuses to leave his plot of land, protecting what little he has with a trusty rifle to ward off thieves. Earnest is a tough but generous man, with a capable son in Jerome (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and rebellious daughter Mary (Elle Fanning), the latter anxious to flee her boring life and shack up with bad boy Flem Lever (Nicholas Hoult). The circumstances demand a certain "wild wild west" attitude to problem solving. It's basically "do whatever it takes to survive", and for Earnest, a former alcoholic, that means selling liquor on the side and using what little water he can find to keep his family alive. "Pray for rain", he says, holding out a firm belief that his dry, cracked land is still fertile. All it needs is enough water.

Interestingly, Paltrow uses a three-pronged narrative, a triptych in the vein of The Place Beyond the Pines, to guide us through this sandy wasteland of broken dreams. The first chapter follows Earnest, and it's easily the best with the indomitable presence of Michael Shannon demanding our attention. His Earnest is a brilliant man, vulnerable and giving but capable of violence. It's the rare opportunity to see Shannon play someone who isn't completely unhinged, but is a figure to be looked up to and respected. One chapter "hands off" to the next and the approach brings us deeper into lives of the three main protagonists, all of whom happen to be the men. Mary, who is flighty and somewhat naive, is basically just another prize to be won in a place that has precious few things worth fighting for. The problem with Paltrow's approach is that it's tough to maintain high quality throughout, and the tone is inconsistent. Hoult's chapter, which focuses heavily on themes of guilt and greed, loses something without Shannon acting as his foil. The final act, centering largely on family legacy, is too broad for Paltrow's simply constructed story to bear.

Drawing influences from The Road, the Westerns of John Ford, and a little bit of Mad Max, Young Ones is a completely unique visual experience. Shot in the scorching, sunbaked deserts of South Africa, the cinematography by Giles Nuttgens may leave you feeling a little bit parched. Special effects aren't really needed, as a result, and what must have been a limited budget goes to the robotic "mule" that becomes a cold, steely character in its own right. But most impressive is Paltrow's dedication to the material, fully-developing this torrid world that is never dry for us to behold.

Young Ones is available now On Demand here. 

 Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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The World is Scorched Dry in New Trailer for 'Young Ones', Starring Michael Shannon and Nicholas Hoult

Seen one scorched apocalyptic future and you've seen them all, right? Well, maybe not. Buzz has been swelling for Jake Paltrow's sci-fi film, Young Ones, ever since a pair of trailers hit a couple of weeks back. And there's good reason why as the film seems to balance science fiction and Western to make for a compelling human drama set in a world without water. Oh, and did we mention it stars Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Elle Fanning?

The latest trailer is brief, more of a teaser really, and introduces a rundown robot companion (based on Google's BigDog) into the mix, giving the film a little bit of a Star Wars quality. But nifty special effects seem to be secondary to the moral dilemma at the heart of this story, with Shannon and Hoult's characters due for a showdown over land rights. Complicating matters is Hoult having married Shannon's daughter, which ought to make for some awkward dinner conversation.

Young Ones has finally been granted a release date of October 17th.

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Review: 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, and Gary Oldman

By now we all recognize that Hollywood is driven by the big money and bigger spectacle that sequels provide, with narrative need probably way down the totem pole when considering such follow-ups. As we've just endured the third unnecessary Transformers sequel, such things can prove to be a little depressing, and there was some concern that Dawn of the Planet of the Apescould be just another soulless sequel churned out by the system with pumped up CGI and no real heart. But the film, a technical and thematic marvel crafted by Matt Reeves, is not only exciting in the way we all want summer blockbusters to be, it improves on its predecessor in just about every way.

That's not a knock on Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a film that far exceeded expectations largely by giving in to its sci-fi B-movie roots. It worked as a warning to man's selfish meddling in the ways of nature and as a campy action flick about rampaging apes. 'Dawn' is considerably more serious but let's be honest here, this isn't the "Planet of the Apes and those Pesky Humans' series. We expect things to get a little dark along the way and probably won't turn out so well for our side. Action and violence, of which there are plenty of both, doesn't simply occur for the sake of momentary thrills. Every life-or-death decision is weighed, measured, and has real significance to the future of two opposing species.

Building on the sturdy foundation laid by the prior film, this one moves forward in time ten years after the human population has nearly been eradicated by the Simian Flu. Caesar (Andy Serkis, and let's just say the man deserves an Oscar by now) is no longer the young, genetically evolved ape we saw before. Now he's the leader of a tribe, and more than that he's got a wife (Judy Greer) and young son, Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston), relying on him. Like any leader, Caesar has those who are loyal and some like the badly-scarred Koba (Toby Kebbell), who claim loyalty but have their own motivations. The rules of their society are pretty simple, with the biggest rule scrawled in chalk, "Ape no kill ape". Humans haven't been spotted in what remains of San Francisco in years, so when a small pocket of them are encountered and it ends in bloodshed, some of Caesar's followers start sounding the drumbeat for war.

Screenwriters Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver draw obvious but resonant parallels between Caesar and Malcolm (Jason Clarke), a leading voice amongst the humans with his own son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and lover (Keri Russell) to take care of. Unlike some of the others in their group, neither Malcolm or Caesar wants a battle, recognizing that a full scale war could destroy them all. But the humans need power to rebuild civilization, and the only source is on the apes' home turf. Without it, people have essentially reverted back to a primal state and their desperate, battle-ready leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman, in Commissioner Gordon mode) is ready to do anything to change that.

Analogies to race relations or the ongoing conflict in the Middle East are clear but never beaten to death. It's far more concerned with common themes of loyalty, family, and betrayal, all of which are approached with sincerity and intelligence. When Caesar becomes father to a newborn child, we recognize how the stakes have been elevated and why he makes certain choices. Of course, we also know that whatever he decides it will end up with hundreds of digital apes swinging from power lines and firing machine guns from horseback. How would you like to be a normal animal in a world of evolved chimps? That must really suck. Anyway, when monkey mayhem ensues it's quite the computer-generated showcase. Reeves has done some spectacular digital effects work before, most notably in the monster flick Cloverfield. But let's not forget he also directed the superior vampire remake, Let Me In, and 'Dawn' impressively combines pot boiling thrills with moments of sheer horror. Comedy is sparse but there are a few moments of monkey mockery that are worth a laugh. They tend to end with somebody dying but they're funny for a time.

What more is there to say about Andy Serkis' performance capture work at this point? The emotion he's able to wring is truly exceptional, and I've personally come around to thinking we need a special category for honoring what he's so consistently been able to do. One only wishes the humans had more to work with. Clarke makes the most of a character that is basically just meant to play a lesser version of Caesar. Oldman is never given a chance to be the firebrand his character would seem to demand. But as noted before, this is 'Planet of the Apes', and so they get the bulk of the character focus. Where 'Rise' was mostly a movie about humans, we're clearly meant to land on the side of the apes now and it feels a little counter-intuitive at first.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a deeply intelligent, wildly entertaining sequel that proves the summer blockbuster is capable of evolution, too.

 Rating: 4 out of 5

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First Trailers for 'Young Ones' Starring Nicholas Hoult, Elle Fanning, and Michael Shannon

Sometimes having a great cast and a prime slot at Sundance doesn't work out so well. Such was the case for Young Ones, a post-disaster film from Jake Kasdan (Gwyneth's bro) who came to the festival seven years ago for his debut, The Good Night. This is only his second feature and it appears he will again feature a great cast while struggling to get the film some attention as it currently doesn't have a release date.

Picked up a couple of months ago by Screen Media, Young Ones should eventually be seen in theaters or On Demand based solely on the talent involved. Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Shannon, and Kodi Smit-McPhee star in the dystopian drama set in a scorched world where water is extremely scarce and families are forced to do whatever they can to survive. Kasdan seems to be trying to combine Western and sci-fi sensibilities, always a tricky thing, and reviews for the film were decidedly mixed. That said, this trailer is mighty impressive, has a distinctive look to it, and there's every reason to trust in the cast.

Check out two trailer versions below, followed by some new images. Hopefully we'll see Young Ones released later this year.

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'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Reveals Final Trailer

After an excellent viral and the first released clip from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox have now revealed what they claim is the final trailer for the anticipated summer film. Matt Reeves, who directed the monster disaster flick Cloverfield and the surprising vampire remake Let Me In, is on board for the 'Apes' sequel that takes place years after a virus has wiped out most of the human population. That leaves only a few left to coexist alongside Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his army of evolved apes, until conflict inevitably erupts.

Also starring Jason Clarke, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Toby Kebbell, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th.

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Humans Confront Caesar in 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Clip

As we saw in the excellent "Prepare for Dawn" viral clip, seven years have passed since Rise of the Planet of the Apes and in that time the human race has practically been wiped out by the simian flu. It was an excellent piece of footage, one of the few virals that actually accomplished its task of informing the audience and generating excitement. And now 20th Century Fox hopes to keep it going by releasing the first clip for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Toby Kebbell are part of a small band of humans hoping to coexist peacefully with Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his tribe of evolved apes. We all know it's not going to turn out well, and perhaps Caesar does too because he certainly doesn't want any humans hanging around.

Directed by Matt Reeves, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th.

Get More: Keri Russell, Gary Oldman, Movie Trailers, Celebrity News

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International Trailer for 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Offers New Footage

Before you go and hang out with a talking raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy, 20th Century Fox would like you to spend some quality time with their army of talking apes. A new international trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has been released that offers up a few bits of new footage and a slightly different focus, but still looks like a sequel that has grown exponentially from the first film.

Directed by Matt Reeves and starring Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Judy Greer, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee and the returning Andy Serkis, the story follows a group of human survivors in San Francisco trying to co-exist with Caesar and his clan. Of course that proves to be easier said than done and a conflict erupts that may wipe out humanity once and for all.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th.

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New Trailer for Ari Folman's Animated Hybrid 'The Congress' Starring Robin Wright

Six years have gone by since Ari Folman's haunting animated war film, Waltz with Bashir, and the wait for his follow-up is finally about to end.  Folman began developing his animated/live-action hybrid The Congress around the same time as 'Bashir' was opening, yet it wasn't until last year's Cannes that the film debuted to audiences to great acclaim. And now with a release set for this summer courtesy of Drafthouse Films, the first U.S. trailer has been released.

Robin Wright stars as a version of herself, an aging actress seeing her career diminish for various reasons, including her own unreliability. Desperate to make some money to support her ailing son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), she sells the rights to her digital image so the studios can make movies using it as often as they like. This gives her the chance to live forever, in a sense, but we also see that it opens the door to something much bigger that she never could have predicted. It's an intriguing premise and Folman appears to have created yet another visually breathtaking and inventive piece of work.

Also starring Jon Hamm, Paul Giamatti, Danny Huston, and Harvey Keitel, The Congress opens August 29th.

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Apes on Horseback in 10 New 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Photos

"Caesar not only has a wife, but also an infant son and a teenage son. This film centers around the notion of family — the survival of the family and what lengths you would go to to protect them when life is extremely hard and tough."

 While Andy Serkis' description for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes may not sound like the stuff of a blockbuster summer popcorn flick, there's guaranteed to be a great deal of spectacle, as well; like gun-wielding apes and simians on horseback. USA Today has released ten new images from the film which give us a look at both of those things, plus human stars Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Kirk Acevedo. The story jumps ahead a few years to a time when the dwindling human population is trying to survive, just as Caesar is struggling to hold on to power. But as Matt Reeves points out, the idea of humans and apes co-existing in harmony isn't likely to be in the cards...

Reeves: "We all know it doesn't become Planet of Humans and Apes. It becomes Planet of the Apes. But this is that one moment of time where there is hope for humans."

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th. 

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Head-spinning new trailer for Ari Folman's 'The Congress' with Robin Wright

After making a splash at Cannes in 2008 with the brilliant animated war film Waltz with Bashir, Ari Folman is finally making his long-awaited return to the Croisette with The Congress. Drips of information have come out about it over the years, with the most recent update back in 2011 when some early imagery was released, suggesting a film that would look on the surface a lot like 'Bashir' had. But now that that the first trailer is here, it's clear The Congress is something entirely different.

Based loosely on Stanislaw Lem's The Futurological Congress, Robin Wright stars as a version of herself as her career is fading in the digital age. In a bid to stay relevant and secure a means of supporting her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), she allows her image to be copied and used infinitely, losing her identity in the process. The live-action part of the film features Danny Huston and Harvey Keitel cheesing it up pretty badly, while Wright appears to be on the top of her game. However, it's when the psychedelic animated aspects take over that it truly comes to life, blending 3D animation with what appear to be some wild black & white sci-fi elements.

The Congress will premier at Cannes during the Directors' Fortnight.

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Kodi Smit-McPhee joins 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'

He's faced down an apocalypse, talked to the dead, and fallen in love with a vampire, but now Kodi Smit-McPhee is set to battle super-intelligent apes in the biggest film of his young career. Just a few days after Jason Clarke joined the cast of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Deadline reports Smit-McPhee is the latest to sign on.

He'll be reteaming with his Let Me In director, Matt Reeves, on the action sequel which takes place 15 years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Same as with Clarke, we don't have any information on Smit-McPhee's character, but we do know the story follows human scientists fighting to survive alone in San Francisco.  Andy Serkis will again slip into the motion-capture suit as Caesar, who is now struggling to maintain a grip on his kingdom.

Smit-McPhee had his breakout opposite Viggo Mortensen in The Road, and was the lead voice in the Oscar-nominated ParaNorman. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters on May 23rd 2014.

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Elle Fanning, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, and Kodi Smit-McPhee starring in 'Young Ones'

You knew Gwyneth Paltrow had a brother, right? Jake Paltrow obviously hasn't reached her level of fame, and will probably never hit the glory of starring in a classic like View from the Top (uggghhh), but he's building his rep up slowly as a director. His first film, 2007's The Good Night, was a star-studded affair that somehow flew under the radar. For his follow-up, Young Ones, he's managed to pull together an equally great cast.

Nicholas Hoult, Elle Fanning, Michael Shannon, and Kodi Smit-McPhee are starring in the film, as sci-fi thriller about a 14-year old boy forced to use his wits to survive a violent future where water is a precious resource. Paltrow will direct and wrote the script, and somehow this thing has already been in production for a week in South Africa. Way to keep a secret!

The logline's a little vague, which I guess should be expected for a film that was so well-hidden. With a cast like that, Young Ones is a project to be kept a close watch on.[Variety]

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Sure Shots: Mireille Enos; Alexander Ludvig; Chloe Moretz

* Better than almost anyone I've seen lately, Mireille Enos has used her TV success in both The Killing and Big Love to launch a film career that is really starting to take off. She'll appear in Gangster Squad, World War Z, and is currently filming the West Memphis Three film, Devil's Knot. Now you can add David Ayer's Ten(formerly Breacher) to her busy schedule. The cop thriller stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sam Worthington as part of a DEA Task Force that are picked off one-by-one after robbing a drug cartel for millions of dollars. Enos will play a member of the team and the wife of Worthington's character. Terrence Howard, Olivia Williams, Joe Manganiello, Dawn Olivieri, and Malin Akerman co-star.  [Deadline]

* So his character in The Hunger Games may not have survived to be a part of the upcoming sequel, that doesn't mean Alexander Ludvig can't be a Lone Survivor for Peter Berg. The young actor has joined the cast of Berg's Navy SEAL film, which is based on Marcus Luttrell's memoir about a 2005 incident in which his team was ambushed by Taliban forces in Afghanistan, where they were sent to kill a terrorist leader. Mark Wahlberg is playing Luttrell, with Taylor Kitsch, Eric Bana, Ben Foster, and Emile Hirsch the other members of the squad. Ludvig will play Navy SEAL Shane Patton. Ludvig just recently completed filming on Grown Ups 2 where he'll hopefully put Adam Sandler out to pasture. [Deadline]

* Looks like a Let Me In reunion is in the works, as Chloe Moretz is set to join Kodi Smit-McPhee in the indie film, The Wilderness of James. Written and directed by newcomer Michael Johnson, the film is a coming of age story about a Portland boy dealing with the absence of his father. Filming begins next month, so it probably won't interfere with her return as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall. Moretz is currently filming a remake of Carrie, which you can check out the first images from here. [Deadline]

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New look at 'The Congress', from the director of 'Waltz with Bashir'

Hopefully, patience is a virtue to those of who have been waiting for Ari Folman's follow-up to 2009's animated Waltz with Bashir, one of my favorite films of that year, and chronicles his own experiences during the Lebanon War. Titled The Congress, this rather ambitious sounding film is something totally different, for one it's an adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's short story, The Futurological Congress, and is a mix of live-action and animation.

The story is a big leap from 'Bashir's' personal perspective, in that it's essentially science fiction, centering on an aging actress(Robin Wright) who takes one last job to make ends meet and support her kid(Kodi Smit-McPhee). Her decision has some pretty awful consequences, as the studio takes her image and scans it in order to use her likeness as frequently as they wish, making her irrelevant.  Danny Huston and Paul Giamatti make up a part of the cast as well.

Folman recently revealed to Cinemascopian that the film is progressing along steadily, but we've got darn near a year until we see anything concrete....


 Folman: We just returned from a round of rough-cut screenings in Israel and Europe. The film has 70 minutes of live-action and 50 minutes of animation, the live action part is locked (except for the effects) and the animation is still in the Animatic phase, but most of the designs are done. We’re now going into an insane journey of finishing the animation in 10 months, in five different countries: here, in Jaffa, Poland, Belgium, Germany and Luxemburg. After that, post-production. The movie should be done by January 2013.

As you can see from the newly released image above, the animation style looks to be very similar to that of Waltz with Bashir, and I think it's pretty clear who's who in it. The guy on the right just has to be Danny Huston. For a better look at the progress Folman has made on The Congress, check out this video from last spring. I can't wait!

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