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This weekend, the New Year lull has set in as there are just three new films out for you to choose from: drama in Foxcatcher, apparent action in Taken 3, and a musical in Into The Woods.
Foxcatcher is a new drama based on the true story of Mark Schultz (played by Channing Tatum), an Olympic wrestler whose relationship with mentor John du Pont (Steve Carell) and brother Dave Schultz (Mark Ruffalo) would lead to unlikely circumstances.
Also starring Anthony Michael Hall, Sienna Miller and Vanessa Redgrave , this looks well worth a watch.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Tak3n, aka Taken 3, is the third and (hopefully) final film in the series featuring Brian Mills (Liam Neeson), ex CIA-type chap, whose daughter was kidnapped (i.e. ‘taken’) in the first film, then No.2 saw him and his wife ‘taken’, and now, in ‘Tak3n‘, THE DOG IS TAKEN!!!!
No, seriously, that hasn’t happened. But there’s a tragedy and he goes on the run, and the cops are trying to stop him, but he wants to finish it all once and for all.
However, while the first film was so-so, the second one was terrible. And while the first film was a censored 15-cert in the cinema, and an uncut 18-cert on DVD and Blu-ray, the second film was respectively a 12- and 15-cert. What next? U-certificate? Well, no, this time it’s another “censored to get a 12-certificate” film. What the hell is wrong with the bods at 20th Century Fox that they do this with films? They even did it with A Good Day To Die Hard, which made a poor film even worse! It comes to something when I can take my then-5-year-old nephew to see a Die Hard film in the cinema, not that I was going to pay money for a censored film!
Let’s hope Bryan Mills tracks down whichever idiots at Fox are sanctioning such barbarism.
Tak3n is directed by Olivier Megaton (Taken 2, Transporter 3), it’s co-written by Luc Besson (who should know better) and also stars Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Forest Whitaker, Sam Spruell, Dougray Scott, Leland Orser and someone who’s actual name is Johnny 5.
Also, to show how bad it is, all the terrible action films are released in January and February, because they’re no good for summer releases.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Into The Woods
Well, if you thought Taken 3 would be the worst film released this weekend, think again…
With a mish-mash of – and a dark take on – intertwining fairy stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk – while throwing in a musical bent, and this looked very interested indeed Unfortunately, halfway through the trailer… James Corden appeared.
Note to James Corden: “Please do one. You are as funny as Ricky Gervais when he started outstaying his welcome in endless American movies. Whatever talent you once had, Corden, I’m baffled if I can remember, but we’ve seen it. You have nothing left to offer. Thanks.”
Into The Woods also stars Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Lucy Punch, Christine Baranski, Frances de la Tour and Meryl Streep as The Witch, and is out in the UK on January 9th 2015, which is a bit of a shame for the distributors as it misses the lucrative Christmas market (it’s released in the US on Christmas Day), so they should’ve waited until half-term, really.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.