Review: "Logan Lucky"

by Chris Feil

Steven Soderbergh’s cinematic return begins with an apt statement that reflects the experience of his most entertaining films: Channing Tatum’s Jimmy Logan tinkers away at his truck as he tells his daughter Sadie a fantastical tale about the John Denver tune on the radio. When she asks what makes the song so special to him, his matter-of-fact response is that sometimes you just “like the song because of the song.” For all of Soderbergh’s conceptual refinement and polemical subtlety buried within his most mainstream features, sometime you can’t just help love the song.

Logan Lucky is another one of those films for the director, and another of his spectacular ensembles. Tatum is one of three protective Logan siblings along with Adam Driver’s amputee Clyde and Riley Keough’s no-bullshit hairdresser Mellie.  In order to stay a part of his daughter’s life after losing his construction job, Jimmy hatches a plan to rob a NASCAR motorway of its subterranean cash stash. For added muscle the Logans recruit the mischievous Bang brothers, led by current convict and hard-boiled egg enthusiast Joe, played by an inspired and loose Daniel Craig.

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YNMS: "Logan Lucky"

Chris here. Tucked away in late summer is Steven Soderbergh's Soderbergh's official return from cinematic retirement Logan Lucky. Why is this return so quiet with little fanfare? Well, probably because we always knew that retirement wasn't going to last long anyway - and maybe if Soderbergh is back, he'll stay low-key.

However, from the looks of the first trailer, Logan Lucky will be anything but a low-key romp. Soderbergh is back to the ensemble heist capers he turned into big hits with the Ocean's films, this time even more broadly idiosyncratic and silly. This film's heist seeks to pull one over on NASCAR, with the lovable thieves a set of goofy oddballs that sound more at home in the land of Coens than Soderbergh. Take a look at the first trailer, and we'll discuss the Yes No Maybe So after the jump...

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Daniel Craig May Have One More Bond In Him

Robert here! After Daniel Craig told reporters during his press tour for the latest James Bond film that he'd rather "break [a] glass and slash my wrists" than play the superspy again it was generally agreed upon that Spectre would be his last Bond outing. But before you put away your blue swimsuit in sorrow, rumors from sources connected to Barbara Broccoli who I've been assured is the producer of the Bond franchise and NOT a character from a John Waters movie say that she is close to convincing Craig to do one more film as the debonair secret agent.

According to Page Six, the scribblings on a bathroom stall of news sources, Broccoli is on the verge of convincing Craig after she helped produce his off-Broadway Othello which was very well received...

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A softer side of Daniel Craig via... puppies!

The James Bond films, and even, come to think of it, his films outside of his most famous role, often present Daniel Craig as a rather icy fellow. Those cold blue peepers have helped typecast him as a rather dangerous sexy beast. Perhaps unsurprisingly when you pair him with puppies, he's suddenly an adorable softie as most people, come to think of it, when you pair them with puppies. 

And it's for a charitable cause to as you can see in this video after the jump...

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In a previous life, Steven Soderbergh must have been a thief

Behold the first image from Lucky Logan which is Soderbergh's first post-retirement theatrical feature. It's yet another heist picture from a director who is very fond of stories about professional thieves and or elaborately planned ambitious crimes. See also Haywire, Oceans franchise, Out of Sight.

Pictured are Adam Driver and Channing Tatum in the background (why are they barely featuring a star as big as Chan in the first still?) and platinum blonde Daniel Craig in the foreground. They're doing an elaborate heist during a NASCAR race. 

Are you excited to welcome Soderbergh back to the movies?