Prince Avalanche

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJGEu268KvI

Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind.

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Director: David Gordon Green

Writer[s]: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson [original story], David Gordon Green [adaptation]

Starring: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch

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It doesn’t get much more indie than Prince Avalanche. Adapted from an Icelandic film by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, shot in only 16 days, original music from Explosions in the Sky and even a track written by stars Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch, and a plot summary of “two road workers’ experiences on the job in 1988”, this is a film a lot of people probably haven’t heard about. It is kind of a surprising production from Pineapple Express and Eastbound and Down director David Gordon Green, and the trailer is very telling of the subject matter and tone. Overall, this movie is just a weird sell for commercial audiences, but personally, I love finding weird little films like this.

The Great Gatsby

A Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor.

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Director: Baz Luhrmann

Writer[s]: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce, 

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgarton

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is one of the most famous novels ever written. I don’t think there is a school in the country that doesn’t have it’s students read it at one point or another. Written almost 100 years ago, times have clearly changed, and we have what would be unimaginable technology at our fingertips, especially to create films. As everyone on the planet assumed, people decided to take a classic novel and give it the most modern twist possible. And so it was, we have Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby.

Mud

Two young boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the bounty hunters on his trail and to reunite him with his true love.

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Director: Jeff Nichols

Writer[s]: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Tye Sheridan, Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Jacob Lofland

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After my favorite film of 2011, Take Shelter, wirter/director Jeff Nichols has been on the top of my watch list. Now his next film is finally out, and it is additionally the first real base and launching pad for what I’ve heard called the Renaissance of Matthew McConaughey. McConaughey seems to have moved past his cheap rom/com days and has been doing some deeper, more dramatic roles since the start of this decade. To be cast in the main male role following Michael Shannon‘s part in Take Shelter is a huge step towards some real, award winning potential roles.

But don’t worry, he still finds a way to take his shirt off.

Pain & Gain

A trio of bodybuilders in Florida get caught up in an extortion ring and a kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong.

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Director: Michael Bay

Writer[s]: Christopher Markus [screenplay], Stephen McFeely [screenplay], Pete Collins [articles that provided basis for film]

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub

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Pain & Gain is a blast to the past, taking us to the vibrant, colorful, muscular times of 90’s California muscle beaches. I’m sure they were great times, I certainly had some good ones as a four/five year old. With steroids all over the place, muscle-heads could be found left and right. And such are our protagonists, each in desperate need of some hard cash: Walhberg’s Daniel Lugo and his desire to be greater and do greater things; Johnson’s Paul Doyle struggling to adapt to life after prison and addiction; Mackie’s Adrian needing surgery for over-use of steroids and the loss of his manhood. They find this source in the shape of a billionaire asshole, Shalhoub’s Victor Kershaw. With their combined knowledge and skills, the trio of muscle men decide to kidnap and rob Kershaw of all he’s worth.