The price of knowledge is often great and grim. If you like your historical biopics about scientific discoveries of the inspiring and motivational variety, Amazon Studios and Studiocanal’s latest filmRadioactive, a barely recognizable adaptation of the Lauren Redniss graphic novel, Radioactive: Marie & PierreCurie: ATale ofLove and Fallout,may not be for you. Yet exceptional performances by Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, Jack Reacher, Die Another Day) as Maria Skłodowska aka Madame Marie Curie and Anya Taylor-Joy (Emma, Split, The New Mutants) as her daughter Iréne, and a dearth of new films this summer, will likely make this 2018 production worth your time. It arrived in the U.S. for the first time this week streaming on Amazon Prime.
The 21st century contest was whether The Current War or The New Mutants was going to be delayed longest before their inevitable release (The Current War for the Weinstein scandal and The New Mutants for the Disney-Fox merger and now the COVID-19 pandemic), and so The New Mutants wins–or loses–still with no release date. At least The Current War–technically The Current War: Director’s Cut, was worth the wait. Particularly if you put aside the inevitable choices in historical interpretations of the real-life historical figures and facts involved and instead marvel at the nicely realized cinematography by Chung-hoon Chung (Hotel Artemis), production design by Jan Roelfs (Gattaca, 47 Ronin, Ghost in the Shell), costumes by Michael Wilkinson (Justice League, Tron: Legacy, Watchmen), snappy writing and pacing thanks to Michael Mitnick, and a fantastic cast of familiar genre actors, adding The Current War to your streaming list is an easy choice.
Today we have three fall movies to preview, one from a film long-completed and scheduled to arrive in theaters way back in 2017, another a new look at an old property, and a third featuring a modern crime story about a tough cop. First up is The Current War, a film we first previewed here at borg way back in January 13, 2018. Movie studios have fallout, collateral damage–call it what you like– from industry shifts, whether cancelations following mergers or projects braking during sex scandals. The latter was the reason for the initial delays for The Current War, a late production of The Weinstein Company. The star factor is nothing to sneeze at, with a slate of stars now popular for their superhero roles leading the way: Benedict Cumberbatch(Doctor Strange) plays Thomas Alva Edison, Michael Shannon (Man of Steel) is George Westinghouse, Nicholas Hoult (X-Men franchise) is Nikola Tesla, and Tom Holland (Marvel Cinematic Universe) is Samuel Insull, an early General Electric co-founder. Will this film electrify audiences or were the delays a sign it’s going to have a rough go of it? The earliest we’ll know is October, when it finally arrives in theaters.
Raise your hand if you loved the first reboot movie adaptation of the 1970s-1980s TV classic series Charlie’s Angels? No? That one starred Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu. Unfortunately it was more parody than homage, more wacky than the action drama that made the original such a success with audiences 40 years ago. Another reboot is on its way, titled again Charlie’s Angels, and somehow this version with its next generation of film stars and removal of melodrama and humor at first blush seems to have more in common with the original. It stars a very upbeat styled Kristen Stewart (Twilight series) plus newcomer Ella Balinska and Naomi Scott(Power Rangers, Aladdin). The credits circulating so far list a slate of actors playing Bosley, including the film’s director Elizabeth Banks(Brightburn, Hunger Games series), Patrick Stewart(Star Trek Nemesis), and Djimon Hounsou(Captain Marvel). Weren’t we just talking about this movie Wednesday?
And last for today is Black and Blue, another October 2019 release, starring James Bond’s Moneypenny, Naomie Harris, as a British rookie cop caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The trailer for this film looks like a lot of 1980s cop movies, which might be a good thing. As with the other films previewed today, look for even more actors in tis film from the superhero spheres, including Luke Cage’sMike Colter and Captain America: Winter Soldier’sFrank Grillo, plus Fast & Furious regular Tyrese Gibson.
It was the 19th century struggle for the supremacy of electricity, pitting Thomas Alva Edison against George Westinghouse. Now it’s a new movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hobbit), Michael Shannon (Midnight Special, Man of Steel), and Nicholas Hoult (X-Men series, Mad Max: Fury Road). Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and written by Michael Mitnick, The Current War looks like the kind of historical piece that should drive fans of Cumberbatch’s BBC work right into theaters.
Cumberbatch will play Edison, Shannon will play Westinghouse, and Hoult will play Nikola Tesla. Spider-man: Homecoming’s Tom Holland is Samuel Insull, one of the co-founders of Edison General Electric, and Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Alien: Covenant) is Westinghouse’s wife, Marguerite Erskine.
The film was originally scheduled for release on December 12, 2017, but then it was changed to November 24, and it’s been put on indefinite delay. The hesitation purportedly wasn’t for reasons of the film’s content, the frequent cause of many delayed films being re-edited or re-tooled at the last minute. This film hails from The Weinstein Company, and like many projects from that studio, distribution was disrupted because of owner Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment scandal.
