Bryan Cranston dreams a world after "Breaking Bad"

I've dabbled around the idea of a Greatest Working Actors list for some time now, and as alluring as it is to put them all up on a scale like that, I'd simply never know what to do with the actors who have their feet firmly planted in television. With all the shows moving towards their finishes, I am intrigued to see what Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, John Noble, Anna Torv, Jasika Nicole, and Aaron Paul are to do once their respective shows are up. The bell is chiming for Jon Hamm, Elizabeth Moss, John Slattery, and the rest of the "Mad Men" gang as well, and Jared Harris has already been let off the leash for a promising future in the business.

One actor who isn't laying down while waiting for his television check to ring in is Bryan Cranston, headliner on AMC's "Breaking Bad", headed now towards its fifth and final season. For every year Cranston has performed in the pivotal character of Walter White, he has taken home an Emmy for Best Actor. He is quite likely to make it four this fall, and with the splitting of the final season into two eight-episode stretches, the possibility is not merely alive for two more, but it's a certainty for after the show's completion. Cranston is in very good hands with showrunner Vince Gilligan at the helm, though has not been laying steady while the end approaches.

Box Office Update: "Hunger" Devours "Wrath" & "Mirror"

This weekend continued the trend of behemoths dominating senselessly due to unearned enthusiasm while the real gems are still acknowledged, though not nearly as much. I wasn't happy with "The Hunger Games", so the impact of its gargantuan debut had me shrugging with an extreme sense of banality. Though the film did take a massive tumble this weekend, but that's to be expected from such an outstanding opening figure. The film is working on its crawl towards $350-$400 million by the end of its run, though where it lands in that schema depends largely on how it fares next weekend. If nothing else, the film is giving an uncustomary boost to a usually banal box office frame.

And the rest of what's currently filling up the market isn't faring too terribly, if not particularly as excellent. "Wrath of the Titans" opened second to nearly half of what its predecessor opened to. Granted there has been a lot of well earned hatred surrounding that film that this one has been attempting to redeem, so it does have a fight ahead of it, especially if it wants to make back its $150 million budget. Admittedly, that's an easier target to achieve than "John Carter" had against it. "Mirror Mirror" too isn't quite raking in the children it expected to, and everyone else just isn't giving notice to it. It largely depends on buzz, and if the small faction of people who adored it are able to spark enough interest in it.

Quick Takes: "The Grey", "John Carter", "In Bruges"

 

"The Grey"

Directed by Joe Carnahan

It is so satisfying when a film goes up against typical expectations and proves them wrong to the deepest degree. It's been habit to treat Liam Neeson vehicles without any serious inclinations. Remember how stupidly fun "Unknown" turned out to be, even though it was still by most counts an awful film? "The Grey" is not in that similar situation. As a matter of fact, from the very first moment of the film, you are encouraged to treat it with the same heart and attention you're expected to bring to a Pixar film. We meet Ottway at a drought in his life, with implications towards an unfulfilled past and pessimistic current state of being. And then we get one of the most brutal and intense plane crashes in a while.

Carnahan doesn't stray away the brutal horror of the world they're in. The characters pitted against the wild aren't trained killers or badasses in any way at all. They are at first merely stereotypes, and I had a feeling that the film was about to head downhill. And then it didn't, and as the film goes on and the stakes get more highly raised against them, they shed the facades they've worn out in "the world", not to survive, but to live. There is a heavy distinction between the two. This film is surprisingly harrowing, and even had me crying on more than one occasion. Survival isn't important, but the human soul is. Liam Neeson is strong, but from my opinion it is Frank Grillo who really knocks it out of the park, particularly in one scene. You'll know it when it happens, and the film won't feel the same after.

Box Office Update: "Carter" Falls Under "Lorax" Seige

So, let me take this moment to emphasize my feelings on "John Carter". It was a Goliath of a disappointment, structurally, emotionally, tonally, and intellectually speaking. It was sloppily edited, childishly written (even though it has three writers to its name), and directorially numb. And this is a film from the director of two of my favorite films of all time, "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E". Andrew Stanton, please forgive me when I say try harder with your next film. It doesn't disappoint me that the film brought in only $30 million opening weekend, solidifying it as a failure to some degree, and ensuring that Andrew Stanton will not continue on this path.

In fact, I'm rather agreeable towards "The Lorax" now that it has had two strong weekends, because at least I have a positive concept of it in my head. I feel like it's not anything special, but it's not bad. Moving on, audiences ripped "Silent House" apart most likely due to the ending, and nobody even cared that Eddie Murphy had another film out. He just makes films to die nowadays. Overall, the weekend was 9% above last year, when "Battle: Los Angeles" and "Red Riding Hood" were the featured debuts, and only one of them did mildly well opening weekend. It went on to get $83.5 million, which is the most "John Carter" can really expect.

Films to See in 2012: March

After two consecutive months of having nothing worth anticipating, we finally get around to March, which is always the point where the year actually arrives to some degree. The Academy Awards have been put to bed, and we can now actively move on to films that we may even remember by the end of the year. Of course the month starts out rather unassumingly, with whatever "Project X" is (cause I still don't know), and the animated adaptation of "The Lorax". This was the frame that "Rango" landed in last year, but I do not at all think that Dr. Seuss is quite going to give off the same vibe of nicely dialed insanity. In limited release that weekend is "Being Flynn", starring Paul Dano and Robert Deniro. It's fantastic to see Dano taking on bigger roles, but that film just looks way too simple-minded. I will say that it's better than whatever else Deniro is doing.

The following week we get around to Eddie Murphy's latest film, "A Thousand Words", which I have no idea about one way or the other. The guy's biggest prospect for this year was hosting the Oscars, and that fell through. It's also worth noting that "Friends with Kids", starring Adam Scott, Kirsten Wiig, Jon Hamm, Maya Rudolph, and Chris O'Dowd, is coming into limited release. I know, it's like a huge "Bridesmaids" reunion, and as somebody who really enjoyed that film, this sounds like it could be an interesting mix. And there's also "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen", which has some interesting people attached to it, but there isn't much in the way of actual story to be told there, so I'm not that sure about it. Lest I forget, there is also Elizabeth Olsen's year-old thriller "Silent House" finally getting release, so that may well be worth checking out.

"John Carter" Teaser Trailer

Of all the films of 2012, I was most looking forward to John Carter, until now. Mind you, I'm still feverishly looking forward to the adaptation by director Andrew Stanton, but less so. I guess if you feed expectations, they're bound to fail. Mostly the problem is how the trailer is put together. There's barely a pause to breathe, or an explanation of what's happening. I forgot that we were on Mars for a second. I forgot these were aliens until one showed up on screen. Lynn Collins doesn't look too good, nor does Daryl Sabara, and it all feels a bit too much like Conan the Barbarian, but I'll give it time. Maybe they're keeping the good stuff from us until later this year. I hope they are.

"Dark Knight", "John Carter", "Sherlock Holmes", and "Contagion" trailers playing in front of "Potter" finale

If that title is too insanely long for you, know that it's in service of fantastic news. On the heels of discussion about fantastic film trailers of the past, the final film in the Harry Potter series has just received an extra bump of anticipation. With everybody already in line for the midnight showing, it seems that every studio out there is trying to feed off the event by premiering trailers for their high profile projects. It seems that way, but in actuality Warner Bros. is trying to fuel most of its upcoming hits, with one particular hits standing above the rest.

There's no reason to beat around the bush. The first trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, capping off Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, is set to make its debut. Of course, I don't expect much more than a simple tease, because the teaser for The Dark Knight was purely dialogue driven, and the Inception teaser did nothing to answer questions about Nolan's mystery project. Still, expect it to get people talking until another trailer comes around sometime between December and January. Nolan knows better than to blow his wad a year in advance.

On a less massive point, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is also expected to throw a trailer into the ring. They already placed a few posters online, showing off a once more bearded Jared Harris as Moriarty. Here's hoping they do all they can to make his character as fascinating as possible. Steven Soderberg's Contagion is finally getting a trailer, which could work the same way The Town did last year. However, the trailer I'm most anticipating is outside of Warner Bros., and instead from Disney. Andrew Stanton's John Carter gets a teaser, and just in time. I was nervous that we wouldn't get a first look until November. I'm just glad that it's actually been happening. There's also word on a trailer for Martin Scorcese's Hugo, but we'll wait to see if that's any more than just rumor. In any case, the trailers are enough reason to shell out $10 at the theater.