Yes, No, Maybe So In a Man's Man's Man's Man's World
Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 1:00AM Trying to catch up here so herewith, a quartet of big groups of male actors committing daring crimes/heroics in two minutes flat so that you can see the best parts* of the movies for free.
*that's how it works, right?
We'll break Argo, Expendables 2, Lawless and Ganster Squad down into quick threes via our infallible Yes No Maybe So™ system after the jump.
ARGO
YES -because Ben Affleck is building quite a Future Best Director Nominee rep and film number three might be the golden breakthrough. It can't hurt that the film will combine his talents with large pedigreed casts (Bryan Cranston and John Goodman both look as good as you can always count on them to be), escalating suspense, and even celebrity what with its "making a fake movie" overlay.
NO - on account of what if it's as well made but ultimately whatever as Frost/Nixon? Perhaps it's just the period clothing plot and all male cast taking my mind there. I need more actresses. I just do. He basically gives us one and a half per movie aka Not Enough.
MAYBE SO -is mostly just the description of its Oscar chances. But I do wonder / worry how the lighter comedy of the fake movie business can sit comfortably alongside a true story with the threat of very real violence?
EXPENDABLES 2
YES - The Muscles from Brussels! Dolph! Jet Li! Ahnuld! Bruce Willis! etcetera but without exclamation points. Because it's a fun idea to combine all those actors weighed down by former nostalgia glory into one supersize package...
NO - see, the last movie had the same draw but I didn't bother once the reviews were more meh than wheeeee and honestly this looks so unimaginative visually. Shouldn't they be having more crazy fun with it? And while they're having fun shouldn't they throw in female stars with rich action backgrounds like Sigourney Weaver, Angelina Jolie (not that she'd say yes) or Michelle Yeoh?
MAYBE SO - but then two things delighted me: the faker than fake way the door flies away when Ahnuld rips it off the car and the fratty "whoo!" over the title card. I could maybe be convinced to see it if someone will promise me that Jean Claude Van Damme does the splits in his undies again. Don't judge.
GANGSTER SQUAD
YES -the cast is a treat across the board and the trailer knows how to sell them name by name in a way that the Expendables, oddly, does not. Sean Penn looks like a standout and we get round two of Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling's Crazy Stupid Great chemistry. Plus that tommy gun through the movie screen scene pops in this condensed format. It's so "introducing a crazy period gangster movie!" as if it was shot as the trailer.
NO - I've talked to someone who has seen this and they weren't enthused apart from Sean Penn's villain. This is not a real quibble about the movie but I feel terrible for Anthony Mackie. He's the only actor on the main promotional image who isn't listed in either the big cast type on the poster or the little cast type in the abbreviated credits. Anthony Mackie needs a better agent or a bigger career or a smarter Hollywood to work in.
MAYBE SO - If you've seen The Untouchables (1987) and Public Enemies (2009) what will set this one apart?
LAWLESS (previously known as "Wettest County" and "Wettest County in the World"
YES - Tom Hardy is intensely watchable and I ♥ Jessica Chastain's big trailer moment. Weirdly it'll be so nice to see her again on screen despite seeing her so constantly for all of 2011. John Hillcoat seems, perpetually, like a director on the verge.
NO - Hate hate hate those freeze frame flashes where one person is highlighted and the camera moves in towards (only) them. It is undoubtedly a trailer affectation but it doesn't bode well for the confidence to sell the movie as is. Speaking of affectations: Guy Pearce! Also this is yet another organized crime movie. Yawn. The cinema drowns in them.
MAYBE SO - this project seems like it was shot long ago and delayed and delayed. That could just be impatience talking but what gives? Is it a mess? Is it an interesting mess? Or just a tough sell? Also how weird will it be to see Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy together again immediately after Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy?
That's all I got. Whew. Also "Whoo!" [End credits] Now, whaddayou got?
Reader Comments (21)
The one I am most looking forward from these is 'Argo' I like the concept and the trailer.
And I must say I too am feeling a little underwhelmed by the number of gangster/crime movies out every year. Weirdly, I am liking 'Gangster Squad's fun trailer more than the more serious 'Lawless'.
For a moment I thought Sean Penn was channeling Al Pacino in Dick Tracy in that trailer.
Gary Oldman with the gun in Lawless > all the men in Gangster Squad blazing those guns.
Anthony Mackie needs another leading role, he was great in "Night Catches Us".
Lundgren on that poster looks just like Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs!
I was looing at the poster and thinking "Hmm, man of color here - do I see his name? Who IS he? I think not." That's not even racist at this point, it's just sloppy and stupid IMHO.
Nat, the actress that would fit Expendables' ensemble is Linda Fucking Hamilton. BADASS
Cal -- brilliant. And maybe she would say yes, too.
Will Charisma Carpenter be back for Expendable 2?
Anthony Mackie needs a better agent or a bigger career or a smarter Hollywood to work in. Everyone deserves that.
As someone who has seen Lawless, I can't wait until word comes out of Cannes about it. What a weird debut for that movie.
excited about "Lawless". Hillcoat is a great director, but his previous works ("The Preposition" and "The Road") were underrated, in my opinion.
Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain and Guy Pearce seem to stand-out in the trailer, at least for me. Hope they have a great awards season thanks to this project, they are so talented and they simply deserve that!
P.S.: I don't know but I'm a bit disappointed with "The Gangster Squad" trailer... Maybe my expectation were just too high, but Sean Penn promises to be amazing, as ALWAYS
I'd be all for Brigitte Nielsen *and* Linda Hamilton in <I>Expendables 3.
I'll make sure not to see Gangster Squad on opening weekend, just as an eff you to the studio who can't even bother to put Peña's and Mackie's names on the poster. Like Janice says, it's just pathetic.
Guess I'm the only one who finds Penn a little too over-the-top in this trailer. He looks like worst in show, not best in show.
1. Lawless: John Hillcoat is an interesting director, the cast is cool and the story is interesting.
2. Argo: I don't love either Gone Baby Gone or The Town, and this could be Hollywood fellating itself, but you just know that Affleck is going the Eastwood route. Hopefully without the acting nominations for himself.
3. The Gangster Squad: Doubt it.
4. The Expendables 2: Not even to make fun of. At least Willis seems to age gracefully.
1) Argo's trailer veers from straight political thriller to comic Ocean's 11 style romp then back to political thriller before closing with the "This Is An Important Movie About An Important Topic" pitch. I'd be much more into the movie if it were only one of the those first two things. Even though it's Affleck directing/starring, this really looks like the Clooney produced movie it is - which is to say, classy and probably well done but just off in some fundamental way.
2) Expendables 2 - of course yes. The first one sucked but there's no way I'll miss the sequel - though completely agreed on the cheesiness of the torn off door - and Arnold in general looks like he doesn't quite know what's happening.
3) Gangster Squad - maybe so. Looks like it'll be riding a very fine line. Too much slow motion for my taste. Fifteen seconds in I expected Sean Penn to rip off his shirt and scream, "THIS IS SPARTA!"
4) Lawless - yes, if only for the Pearce and Oldman factor. The trailer is generic, but I remain hopeful that this is just a bad Weinstein Company trailer. Hillcoat is quality.
I was also thinking of Linda Hamilton for The Expendables (3?). Maybe she, Weaver, Yoeh and Geena Davis (she had a few action movies, remember?) can be a second "expendables" unit in the next movie. That'd be fun. Or just a whole movie about them. Even funner.
"Argo" looks promising, but could either be truly fantastic or truly terrible.
"Lawless" looks exactly like I was expecting. Exactly. That's not a good thing. I'll give Hillcoat and Nick Cave the time of day, but... I dunno.
"Gangster Squad"... hmm. Well, the use of Jay Z is totally naff, but it's obvious they're basing their marketing of this movie on "American Gangster". The cast and the techs all look quite good, but we've seen this all so many times that it's gonna need something to really be better than just "quite good". Emma Stone is the new Michelle Pfeiffer, isn't she? Gangster mistress whoo! I'd kinda been suspecting that Anthony Mackie could emerge as an Oscar contender as a way of the industry saying "more please", but perhaps this could turn into a Sean Penn supporting actor nomination in a "you were good in a decent movie so here's a nomination" that excites nobody and Penn even less.
Oh, but the cinema screen gunfight was indeed excellent. Will be great on the big screen.
Nick -- well at least Peña's in small type on the trailer page (with giovanni ribisi and a few others) ... Mackie isn't even listed ! I'm hoping that's just an error and he's at least in the credits on the poster itself.
You're right that some audience members like myself are absolutely surfeited with garbage pointless stories with predominantly male casts. For me, 3 out of the 4 here are straight Nos, with no Yes or Maybe.
Gangster Squad: No. Pukingly pointless.
Expendables 2: omg, No. At least Red had a brief spasm of common sense, adding some women to the formula.
Argo: No. I have no desire to see another Ben Affleck movie. I'm happy for Jennifer Garner that he's employed, out of the house, making some money and being respectable. But that doesn't mean I should be forced to watch his self-important twaddle.
Lawless: Yes! I need to see more Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain! I liked The Proposition and The Road and hope the director will give an interesting perspective to the story.
Maybe So: "crime and bootlegging" is boring, not a draw.
These are ALL Maybe Sos for me, except for The Expendables 2, which is a No (if I couldn't be bothered to see the first one in theatres, why would I see the sequel? Even WITH the Muscles From Brussels?).
Both Lawless and Gangster Squad look good but both could ao easily turn out to be crap. Both will depend on the reviews for me. Of the two I'm slightly more looking forward to Gangster Squad, solely for Sean Penn who looks to be having a GREAT time as the villain (for once!). Also, these two films are RIPE for a "Which Is Hotter": Gosling/Stone or Hardy/Chastain?
I probably won't end up seeing Argo despite the fact that it looks good. It's just... I STILL haven't seen either The Town or Gone Baby Gone despite their good reviews, great actors, and awards success. I don't know what it is, but there is something keeping me away from Ben Affleck's movies.
I love hyper-masculine done well and done stylized. Not a fan of straight-ahead stupid action, so Expendables is a No for me. But Gangster Squad and Lawless both look Yes unless the reviews really bury them. Period stylized masculinity gets me hot.
As for Argo, II like Affleck as a director and there is no one I love on-screen more than John Goodman. Yes.