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www.groovekorea.com / June 2014 78 preview by Dean Crawford AT THE BOX OFFICE THE BIG SCREEN Edited by Jenny Na (jenny@groovekorea.com) MuSIC & ARTS When Tom Cruise first rose to fame in the ‘80s, he was that cheeky newcomer with a handsome smile that made the ladies (and some men) swoon. But after “Top Gun” (1986), it seemed Cruise was a natural fit for the ac- tion genre. The “Mission Impossible” movies demonstrated his position as something of an adrenaline junkie, as Cruise insisted on doing all of his own stunts. Simply looking off the side of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa would have made some stuntmen queasy, let alone swinging from side to side, suspended 120 floors in the air! But one thing I’ve noticed is that Cruise has a tendency not to pigeonhole himself into one genre, taking roles in several dramas, musicals and a few sci-fi films; “Minority Report” (2002) being one of my favorites. Cruise returns to the outer-worldly once again in Doug Liman’s “Edge of Tomorrow.” Based on the novel “All You Need is Kill” (2004) by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, “Edge of To- morrow” sees Cruise playing William Cage, a soldier fighting a losing war in the near future to an alien race known as Mimics. Cage is un- skilled in battle and is killed in action instantly, yet he awakes that very same morning only to relive that fateful day over and over again. He eventually teams up with Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), who trains him to become the fierce soldier that is needed to win the war against the Mimics. To say I’m a little excited for this would be an understatement. Time travel, aliens and futuristic metal fighting suits? It sounds like “Groundhog Day” (1993) meets “The Termi- nator” (1984), which sounds amazing! Not to mention the film is directed by Doug Liman, who debuted with the excellent “Swingers” (1996) and went on to make cult hits like “GO” (1999) and the first “Bourne” (2002) film, showing that he can handle action as well as anyone else working today. Here’s hoping he handles the science fiction aspect of the movie just as well and we end up with a movie closer in quality to “Minority Report” than Cruise’s last sci-fi effort, “Oblivion” (2013). 04 Action / Sci-f 113 minutes June Edge of Tomorrow Directed by Doug Liman Every May sees one of Asia’s best film fes- tivals take place in my adopted hometown of Jeonju. It’s a cinematic delight that displays artistic talent from all over the world, screen- ing films from relative newcomers to cinematic greats such as Jean-Luc Godard and David Lynch. So in case I watch one art film too many and get a bit too clever for my own good, I have the June release of “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the film equivalent of aerosol cheese, to bring me back down to reality. Mark Wahlberg plays Cade Yeager, a hard-working dad who is struggling to put his daughter though college. After buying a seem- ingly innocuous used truck at auction that turns out to be Transformer Optimus Prime, Cade soon finds himself in the middle of one of the most fearsome battles in Earth’s history as the Autobots have to fight the Decepticons and blah, blah, blah, loud noises. It’s not that the “Transformer” movies are bad films … Oh, screw it. Yes, they are. Visually, however, I can’t help but admit that they are usually stunning. “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (2011) had some of the best use of 3-D I had ever seen up to that point, but what good is a film using the best CGI out there when you’re offended by all of the characters and find yourself bored stiff after the 400th explosion? The inclusion of Marky Mark gives me some hope that this offering will veer away from the same mindless tripe that has been served up in the past three installments. I enjoyed the ma- jority of “Pain and Gain” (2013), and let’s not forgot Michael Bay made “Bad Boys” (1995) and “The Rock” (1996), so he could have an- other good film in him. The most recent set of interviews for the movie has Bay comparing the film to Christo- pher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy. If he means that “Transformers: Age of Extinction” will be a dark and brooding film where the lead character uses fear as an existential weapon, I’m throw- ing a skeptical glance his direction. If he means that both projects are, in fact, films, then, yeah, I guess he might be on to something. 26 Action / Adventure / Sci-f 120 minutes (approx.) June Transformers: Age of Extinction Directed by Michael Bay GrooveCast GrooveCast host Chance Dorland and columnist Dean Crawford talk movies. Check out the podcast at groovekorea.com.
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