Good Movies v Terrible Movies

Josh here to talk battles.

Currently yelling in cinemas is Batman v Superman, a dazzling acting showcase about Batman and Superman getting divorced and having a heartwrenching custody battle over their son Billy. Both characters were created in the 1930s and onscreen in one form or another since the 1940s. It's surprising that it's taken this long for the powers that be at Warner Bros to put them in the same movie, and have them spar. The Avengers beat them to it by a blockbuster mile with characters created in the 1960s an onscreen much later. It, too, had its iconic heroes having a tiff even if only ever mildly sparring (until Civil War hits cinemas later this year). There's an audience itch that is scratched seeing two things we know, putting them into the same box and shaking it to see what happens. For Batman v Superman? A 33% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Let's look as the history other Vs to see if they fare any better. 

Freddy Vs. Jason.
Once Destiny's Child disbanded, Kelly Rowland was not going to let Beyonce be the only break out star, so she did the only thing anyone would do to ensure mega-stardom: appear in a horror movie where the human characters don't matter at all, and still get murdered anyway. The premise isn't that bad; people have forgotten Freddy and forgotten fear so he resurrects Jason to pave the way. But then they get fed up of each other playing with each others toys and THEY want to be the one to impale post-coital teenagers not the other facially challenged undead monster! The execution is as sloppy and lacking in tension as the stomach muscles on the other end of Freddy's machete.
Sequel/Prequel to: Direct sequel to Friday the 13th (1980) and Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). The last film in each franchise before they were both rebooted.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 41%

4 more battles after the jump

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Thoughts I Had While Looking at Television's Actress Elite...

Good morning, readers! Here's your wake-up call:

That's a whole lot of actress powerhouses on television in one small selfie: Sarah Paulson (The People vs. OJ Simpson), Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife), Constance Zimmer (UnREAL and House of Cards), Regina King (American Crime), Kirsten Dunst (Fargo), Kerry Washington (Scandal), and Jennifer Lopez (Shades of Blue). Before you jump to conclusions that Ryan Murphy is just expanding his empire, let's take a closer look:

1. What exactly caused this moment of divinity? Casual friday brunch? Do they all share a dentist?

2. We are not worthy of Regina King and we never will be.

3. Kerry Washington is there too?! Ray reunion! Wouldn't they make a great duo in something fun and female-empowering like Thelma and Louise?

4. Everyone is lovely here, but Sarah Paulson is serving.

5. It's easy to forget if you're like me and don't watch much television that even large stars are making the TV leap by the minute - but haven't we kind of been sleeping on the fact that Jennifer Lopez is the star of a network procedural?

6. This is the Emmy's Actress Roundtable we actually want, yes? Yes.

7. Maybe Jennifer Lopez should be planning the members of group magazine covers a la Vanity Fair. I'd totally buy this off that magazine rack!

8. Wait! There's room for one more next to Constance Zimmer! What TV actress would you squeeze into this selfie?

Casting Nancy Kerrigan

Kieran, here. It was announced earlier this week that Margot Robbie would be playing figure skater turned tabloid fodder Tonya Harding in a biopic titled I, Tonya. On a personal note, I distinctly remember my mother voicing her distaste about Harding being on the cover of nearly a dozen tabloid magazines in my pediatrician’s office when I was a kid. It was everywhere and given how ubiquitous the story became, it’s kind of surprising that it’s taken this long for it to get the cinematic treatment. Well…the earnest, theatrical cinematic treatment. There was a hastily assembled television movie which aired in April of 1994 (the Harding scandal was at the 1994 Winter Olympics). It features Heather Langenkamp (yes, Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street) as Nancy Kerrigan, just in case you were wondering.

A director has yet to be attached to the project or even named to be in consideration, but Patty Jenkins (Monster) immediately feels like a great choice. Other than the forthcoming Wonder Woman movie, Jenkins hasn’t directed a feature film since her 2003 debut which netted Charlize Theron a Best Actress Oscar. In Monster, Jenkins showed a real knack for empathy without absolution while dealing with a troubled protagonist. As sensationalized and as much the butt of jokes Tonya Harding became, her story is ultimately one of abject poverty, fleeting triumph and tragic failure. One would hope that it doesn’t descend entirely into an exercise in camp and Jenkins could provide a sure yet sensitive hand at the helm.

One can hardly embark upon telling the tale of Tonya Harding without talking about Nancy Kerrigan. No actress has signed on for the part, so its presumably still up for grabs. When considering who would play the oft mocked silver-medal winner who became America’s sweetheart for a short time, many names came up.

Just saying. pic.twitter.com/OcHs2NQy5u

— Chris Feil (@chrisvfeil) March 22, 2016

Chris Feil, fellow Team Experience member shrewdly suggested Daisy Ridley, fresh off Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the role, complete with photographic evidence. Ridley would be a good choice and more importantly it would be an opportunity for the young rising star to show her range beyond blockbusters. Word is that Ridley is currently courting the Lara Croft role in a Tomb Raider reboot.

A few people online have named Anne Hathaway as a good choice. There are certainly parallels. It seems that both Hathaway and Kerrigan got dinged for a certain...wholesomeness that seems to enrage people for reasons that are completely alien to me. The Hathaway hatred is absolutely baffling and it feels almost certain she'd be inexplicably pilloried even further if she took a role that requires her to cry earnestly on screen yet again.

 

Though both are interesting choices, the actress who I’d be most curious to see step into the role of Kerrigan is Alicia Vikander. It seems that she’s made her mark in films that are either period (or more period than 1994) or heavy on stylization. I’d be curious to see how Vikander, fresh off her Oscar win, performs in the absence of either.

Are you excited for the project? Who would you like to see in the role of Nancy Kerrigan?

Looking Back, With Anger: Inside Man (2006)

Eric Blume here to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Spike Lee's Inside Man, which remains his biggest box office hit. 

When this tightly-plotted bank heist movie was released a decade ago, it promised a heavenly trio of huge stars:  Denzel Washington, two time Oscar winner; Clive Owen, fresh off his first nomination for Closer; and Jodie Foster, coming off two solo box office successes (Panic Room and Flightplan).  A decade later, only Washington (the least interesting actor of that trio) still works with annual frequency in major pictures.  He lends effortless dynamism and charisma in his usual everyman role. Unfortunately its been lazy sailing for him ever since with one major exception (Flight).

Watching Inside Man again, it’s the loss of both Owen and Foster as regular cinema fixtures that burns, which is ironic since the film demands little from them. [More...]

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What's on your cinematic mind?

Do share in the comments. What movie were you thinking about just now?