Review: ‘Money Monster’ Good Intentions But No Credibility

May 12, 2016

How did a fortune 500 company lose $800 million overnight?

While this question could be ripped from any newspaper in the United States, it’s at the center of Money Monster, directed by Jodie Foster, in theaters May 13th . This film plunges into the world of financial investing. Lee Gates (George Clooney) is the host of a TV show called Money Monster where he dishes out advice in a smug and bull-headed manner; think Jim Cramer from the show ‘Mad Money’. Patty (Julia Roberts) is the show’s producer and appears to be the only person who can control Lee and tone him down. During a live portion of the show, Patty notices a delivery man in the back of the stage holding boxes. In mere moments, it is apparent our delivery man is a disgruntled fan of the show who took Lee’s stock tip and it cost him $60,000. Kyle (Jack O’Connell) starts firing shots inside the T.V. studio and takes Gates hostage forcing him to strap on a bomb vest.

Money Monster is Jodie Foster’s first foray into directing thrillers and it’s quite a contrast from some of her earlier directing work like Home For the Holidays, The Beaver, and Little Man Tate. Foster certainly has proven her worth as a director in past but why did she want to tackle a fresh genre of films now directorially? Perhaps the topical nature of the plot attracted her.

Lee represents “the haves,” and appears to lead a comfortable lifestyle. Kyle symbolizes “the have-nots” and views what Lee and others have as unfair. He feels that Lee and people like him (CEO of Ibis Clear Capital) are in on this elaborate system of cheating out investors out of their hard-earned money.

Foster also touches on the impersonal nature of the financial system. Lee mentions to Kyle that, at one point, going into a local bank and asking them to open up their vault to show where the money sat were a normal occurrence. Now banking is a game of speed and profit margins. As long as the investors are continuing to make profit margins, no-one asks questions, and everyone is happy. Kyle goes to extreme measures to get Lee’s attention so that he can feel the massive hurt that he felt after losing his $60,000 investment.

While Foster gets it right when these themes play a fundamental role in the film, the problem is Money Monster only touches on each theme cursorily. If the movie had focused a little more on Kyle (Jack O’Connell’s) background (we do find out he has a girlfriend and a baby on the way), it would have created more buy-in from the audience.

The impersonal nature of the financial system is an enthralling aspect of this story line that deserves loads more attention in the film. Instead of spending time on how appalling life is because of losing $60,000 on a bad stock tip, why not spend it on those who were at the heart of this fraud? The CEO of Ibris Corporation is absconding with $800 million, using it to buy mines in South Africa and all that is worth is a mention at the end of the story? What motivated him to take all that hard earned money (including Kyle’s 60 grand) and made that investment just for his gain? Why does the system reward this type of behavior?

The most important character in the film is Kyle, whose purpose is to represent the “common man” who buys into these get rich stock tips but loses it all. What’s unfortunate is O’Connell’s portrayal is more whiny than that of a man at the end of his rope. Kyle grumbling draws attention away from the nefarious acts the CEO committed and has the audience rooting silently for the S.W.A.T. team sniper to get a clean shot at him . The lack of believability in Kyle’s plight turns his character from one audience can empathize with to one the could care less about.

Julia Roberts and George Clooney are both equally excellent in Money Monster. As Lee Gates, Clooney is commanding and manages to sell the T.V. finance guy persona perfectly. Gates can command any room, even a room where he is a hostage.

Roberts portrays Patty in a very grounded almost motherly sort of way. Patty cares about all the members of her production team but has a special place in her heart for Lee Gates, no matter how much he annoys her. When the crisis reaches its breaking point, she exhibits a take charge mentality as everyone is trying to get out of this situation alive. She’s the best part of the picture.

While this film had great intentions, the final product is far lacking the credibility needed to tackle such weighty subject matter. Clooney and Roberts make this movie reason enough to see it in the theaters.

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Episode 74: ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ ‘The Flash’ ‘Game of Thrones’ ‘Money Monster’

Matthew Sardo

May 12, 2016

As we march closer to Summer, the films get bigger, and our favorite shows reach for the sky. EJ and Matt chat about the Kevin Smith directed episode of ‘The Flash’ and try to figure out how to watch ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ and not compare the movie to ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.’

Bonus conversation: ‘Game of Thrones,’ and our review of George Clooney’s ‘Money Monster’

Articles mentioned in the podcast:
Review: ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Lacks The Heart Of ‘Days of Future Past’
Run, Barry, Run: Kevin Smith Directs My Favorite Flash Episode
Review: ‘Money Monster’ Easily Blends Thrills With Laughs

Do you have a question that you would like answered during the show?
Email your questions to matt@popaxiom.com.

If you are looking to sponsor the podcast email matt@popaxiom.com as well.

Never heard of Matt Sardo?
For starters, he made the Kessel Run in less than 11 parsecs. Prior to that, he gave Doc Brown the idea for the flux capacitor and led the Resistance to victory over SkyNet – all while sipping a finely crafted IPA. As a radio host, he’s interviewed celebrities, athletes and everyone in between. He’s covered everything from the Super Bowl to Comic-Con.

Who is EJ Moreno?
Is he a trained physician? No. Is he a former Miss Universe contestant? Possibly. But what we know for sure is he’s a writer, filmmaker, and pop culture enthusiast. Since film school, EJ has written & directed several short films. He’s used his passion of filmmaking to become a movie critic for MonkeysFightingRobots.com.

Places you can find the show:
iTunes
Stitcher

Reviews are greatly appreciated – How to Rate and Review a Podcast in iTunes

Thank you for listening!

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Scooby Apocalypse Sneak Peek & Thoughts

Seth Frederiksen

May 12, 2016

The newest sneak peek of Scooby Apocalypse, DC’s reimagining of Scooby Doo, is out and it’s easy to see how the Mystery Gang has changed drastically from their original conception. Now, before I continue, I have to let it be known my thoughts on Mr. Doo and his affiliates. I never liked Scooby Doo. Not when I was a kid, not when I was a teenager, and especially as an adult, I…well, I didn’t like that dog and let’s leave it at that. Not even the hormonal depravity that was puberty made me want to watch those shows, and that’s saying a lot.

But, I like what I saw in the comic’s preview so far. I liked it a lot. In fact, I was laughing at all of the jokes in there, which is an incredible compliment to the writers, since I couldn’t stand the humor of the original series. Fred, who was my least favorite character and never felt a connection to, almost feels like my own doppelganger within the character interactions. Daphne has some personality to her and isn’t simply there to bring in fan boys. And…I liked Shaggy. I can’t believe I wrote those words. But it’s true, these guys made me like him. I appreciate how he wasn’t “like” in every sentence and he had a relaxed vibe to his character.

Velma wasn’t given too much screen time, per se. So I can’t give a real honest impression for her. And I feel she’s going to become a exposition distributor, which can hamper chances of witty and funny dialogue. However, I could be mistaken. I mean they made Shaggy likeable, so anything’s possible at this point. No character’s integrity was compromised in their new incarnations,

When I first heard what DC was planning to do with Scooby Apocalypse and other Hanna-Barbera properties I had major reservations on how this was going to turn out. So to find myself enjoying the first couple of pages was a real treat.

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Greg Berlanti Confirms A ‘Booster Gold’ Movie

Kaitlyn Booth

May 12, 2016

Greg Berlanti, who you either know as the guy who made The Flash TV show great or ruined the Arrow show, recently sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. In a pretty long and interesting interview Berlanti confirms as few things. The first is that Grant Gustin is his Flash and he wouldn’t want to direct the The Flash movie starring Ezra Miller that just lost its director. “No one’s discussed that with me, but I could never direct a Flash movie that Grant Gustin wasn’t the lead of. He’s my Flash,” Berlanti said. To be fair that seems to be the opinion of a lot of fans as Gustin is extremely well liked within the DC fandom. Berlanti did have some advice to the director that does take on that movie; “We have three words above the door [of the Flash writers room]: “Heart, humor and spectacle.””

Berlanti also talks about how different the tone between the DC Cinematic Universe and the DC Telelvision universe. The DC Cinematic Universe is often criticized for being too dark and brooding while the DC TV Universe ranges wildly in tone. “If you’re going to do something like The Flash, part of what made Barry Allen so great was that he was this guy in the middle of all these superheroes who couldn’t believe that he was there, and he loved it,” Berlanti said. “It was the first comic book character who made me cry. He died in Crisis on Infinite Earths saving everybody, and he was the last one anyone expected to save everyone, so inherent in this character was this heartbroken sadness and sacrifice, but at the same time this joy. That duality is something I’ve really latched on to in a lot of what I’ve done. This is the only Flash I’d know how to do.”

The big thing that Berlanti confirmed is that DC and Warner Brothers are working on a movie based on the character Booster Gold when asked if he would ever consider becoming the DC version of Kevin Feige (IE: the person that oversees the entire universe). “It’s never even really come up. Peter [Roth, president of Warner Bros. TV] knows how much I love the characters, and I like being part of this universe in any way that they’ll all allow and are interested in me being a part. That’s the truth. I’m attached to a few films [at Warner Bros.] now, and one, Booster Gold, is a DC property. Zack Stentz, who wrote an episode of Flash last year, just got the job, so he’s writing the script now. I’d probably direct that, or I would want to. But I don’t see my cup as limited. I actually think some of the stuff we get to do on the TV side is richer, deeper and more like the true comic books in the sense that you’re always able to explore a new thing the next week and the stories grow wider and wider.”

Do you want to see a Booster Gold movie? What do you think about Berlanti’s involvement in the DC Cinematic Universe? Let us know in the comments.

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Review: ‘Money Monster’ Is Insincere And Heavy Handed

Kaitlyn Booth

May 12, 2016

Title: Money Monster
Director: Jodie Foster
Summary: Financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio. – via imdb

George Clooney is one of the last actors that is truly a movie star and he knows it. That’s why he seems to be doing movies now that only have messages. I understand that Clooney has ideas and wants to be the one to pass them along but the movies themselves are suffering for them. Tomorrowland was about as subtle as a two by four, and now he has decided to lecture us about the horrors of Wall Street as funded by the Sony Corporation. However, Clooney and the rest of the cast are extremely talented so perhaps that dissonance could work itself out.

Money Monster tried to be a thriller with a message but is, instead, rather dull and insincere.

There is a great moment in Money Monster where it almost makes fun of its own existence. The movie is trying to be a film railing against corporate America as funded by the Sony Corporation and is directed and starring veterans of the industry who probably have more money than I will ever see in my lifetime. Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) has taken Lee Gates (George Clooney) hostage with a bomb vest and a gun on national TV. At one point Lee tries to talk Kyle down by asking how he thinks he has the right to say that he has the worst life in the room and that allows him to kill not only himself but everyone else in the room. Kyle replies along the lines of “you’re going to stand there in your $1000 suit and ask me who has the worse life?” This moment represents the entire movie. It is trying so hard to have a message and to be about something important that it completely misses the irony of its own existence versus its message.

Perhaps if this was an indie starring a bunch of unknown actors by an unknown director this message would have felt more sincere, but as it is it comes across as incredibly phony. You cannot rail against the machine and then litter the movie in Sony product placement. It wants to make you think but by the end but all I could think was that this was the wrong group to try and make this message. This is a movie that thinks it’s the smartest person in the room when in reality it’s like a trust fund kid who has never worked a day in his life ranting about being stuck in a dead end job. Not only do you have no idea what you’re talking about, you also are the wrong person to try and lecture everyone else about this subject.

Perhaps this could all be excused if the “thrills” in this “thriller” existed but Money Monster takes what could at least been an interesting concept and drags it down with cliches. A mad man coming in and taking someone hostage on live TV while demanding answers to something no one understands is not a bad idea for a movie. If Money Monster wasn’t so pretentious this could have made a fun B movie if it embraced what it was. However, this movie is under the impression that it is the lone voice to speak up against Wall Street and thus can’t be bother to make tension. There isn’t a single likable character in the entire cast, and despite having such a strong cast of Clooney, Julia Roberts, and O’Connell, director Jodie Foster and writers Jamie Linden, Alan DiFiore, and Jim Kouf don’t do anything with them. You don’t care if Lee gets blown up or if Kyle gets his answers because you don’t want to root for them.

Money Monster is that person at a party lecturing everyone else about a topic that they don’t really understand. The movie feels incredibly insincere and doesn’t take the time to learn how an actual television studio works, when the location is incredibly important to the plot of the movie. Perhaps a different creative team could have taken this idea in a better direction, or if it embraced the silly thriller aesthetic it could have been good. It doesn’t, though, and instead comes across as heavy handed, pretentious and boring.

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Tim Burton Sets The Record Straight With ‘Beetlejuice 2’ Update

Matthew Sardo

May 12, 2016

The rumors of a ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel led to the development of a ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel, but that work has slowed to a crawl and fans are left to wonder if the film will ever get made.

The screenwriter of the sequel Seth Grahame-Smith spoke with us back in February with a brief update.

“I wrote the script a few years ago, and it’s one of those where everybody’s schedule has to clear up. The truth is, Michael Keaton has expressed publicly that he be willing to come back, and he’s interested in doing it. I know Tim Burton is interesting in coming back and doing it. We have a script. Now it’s just a matter of when everyone’s schedule aligns and whether the movie gods smile on us or not. I’m still hopeful it gets made,” said Grahame-Smith on the Monkeys Fighting Robots podcast.

Winona Ryder mentioned on late night TV that she was coming back for the sequel, but director Tim Burton has been quiet on the subject over that past few years, not adding fuel to the flames. While promoting his latest film ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,’ Burton couldn’t avoid the subject when talking with Collider.

“This is the thing, it’s something that I’m interested in, but there’s so many stories [online], dumping Michael Keaton for Johnny Depp and this or that, and I’ve talked to these people and they didn’t wanna hear this so they just made up a story. But the fact of it is I have talked to Michael and I have talked to Winona, I’ve talked to a few people,” said Burton.

It’s something that I really would like to do in the right circumstances, but it’s one of those films where it has to be right. It’s not a kind of a movie that cries out [for a sequel], it’s not the Beetlejuice trilogy. So it’s something that if the elements are right—because I do love the character and Michael’s amazing as that character, so yeah we’ll see. But there’s nothing concrete yet,” said Burton.

Sadly, it looks like you can put ‘Beetlejuice 2’ in the longshot category as it appears it will be a while before it gets made.

The original film starred Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara, Jeffery Jones, and Winona Ryder.

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Movie Review: ‘Money Monster’ Easily Blends Thrills With Laughs

EJ Moreno

May 12, 2016

The Topical ‘Money Monster’ Reveals The Dark Side of 24-Hour News & Finances.

The American public puts a lot of faith into figures they see on TV. Maybe you get a lot of your medical advice from Dr. Oz or you rely on Bill O’Reilly for your news but we all take what these people say at face value. ‘Money Monster‘ does a wonderful job of exploiting the hope we have in people and our lack of real financial knowledge; it even does so with fun tension & a twisted smile.

Jodie Foster’s most recent directorial outing tells the story of TV personality Lee Gates (George Clooney) being held hostage by Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell), a young man who blames a money tip from Gates for losing all his family’s money. Budwell barges in during a live broadcast of Gates’ show “Money Monster” and straps the financial host with a bomb. Now, the show’s director Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) has to work with Lee to figure out what went wrong with company IBIS to cause Budwell and millions of others to lose money.

There was a twist at a every turn. The moment things started going right, it would instantly go darker than you thought. The sickest part being it made you honestly laugh along the way. An original screenplay by Alan Di Fiore & Jim Kouf as well as Jodie Foster’s sleek directing allowed the film to blend genres seamlessly. Without a doubt, the film is a fast-paced thriller but it doesn’t lose its self when it attempts to make a joke. Usually the laugh comes from the situation taking a turn for the worse. An example being the scene where you think the girlfriend of Kyle will calm him down during this suspenseful hostage situation but in reality, she’s a hothead who’s sick of crybaby Kyle being useless to her. The scene successfully ups the ante, makes you laugh, and shows this human side to Kyle Budwell.

All of the different emotions the characters go through really is a testament to how strong the actors are in this piece. While most of the actors have been in both dramas and comedies, this particular piece often shifted between genres in the same scene. I never once doubted anyone in their role. Even minor side characters like hackers, programers, interns and media spin doctors shined with hilarious and impactful bit roles. Most notably in the cast being the producer and star George Clooney. The man can deliver a monologue then break it down in a little hip-hop dance all while selling you his egoistical character with ease. While Julia Roberts and Clooney rarely worked face to face in this piece, their chemistry through an ear-bud or a glance at a screen was totally believable.

“You believe in money, not people.”
–Kyle (O’Connell) to Lee (Clooney)

I admittedly didn’t know what to expect from the film. The trailers never dive into the intelligent humor that’s sprinkled throughout the film. It also hides all the major twists that keeps the plot from becoming cliche-riddled.

‘Money Monster‘ breezes through its relatively short running-time with a fast-paced story that seems so relevant. It’s released in theatres on Friday, May 13th, 2016.

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Characters That Would Add Diversity To The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Chris Hartmann

May 12, 2016

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building since 2008, with each film adding more fantastic characters from Marvel’s decades of comic book history. With many characters now introduced including, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man and so many more. The one criticism could be the lack of diversity on the Avengers line-ups and in Marvel films in general. However the studio has made concious efforts to improve upon this by changing some supporting characters’ ethnicities and pushing characters like Black Widow, Jessica Jones and Falcon who have all become fan favourites. Marvel has also recently introduced Black Panther and fans will soon see the Wasp and the female Captain Marvel join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although Marvel has made some steps in bringing greater diversity to their universe so far but there are many more great characters from the comic books that could help to improve upon this.

Spider-Woman
A mainstay in the Avengers line-up from the past decade of comic books, Spider-Woman aka Jessica Drew has a rich history with deep connections to SHIELD, Hydra as well as the Avengers. Although her name would assume she is a relation of Spider-Man, Jessica Drew is a wildly different character that would be an excellent addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Woman could show up in a future Avengers line-up or in the rumoured Black Widow film.

Goliath
The original Goliath was in fact Clint Barton better known as Hawkeye but the character is best known under the Black Goliath guise of Dr. Bill Foster and later his nephew, Tom Foster. Bill Foster is another great Marvel scientist who worked with Hank Pym. Goliath would be an appropriate new addition to the MCU and after his power set was shown used by Ant-Man in Captain America: Civil War he could now appear in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp movie.

She-Hulk
The cousin of Bruce Banner, Jennifer Walters became the sensational She-Hulk after Bruce was forced to provide his gamma radiated blood for a transfusion in order to save his cousin’s life. In her hulk-form, she possesses hulk level strength but retains her own personality and intelligence. She-Hulk has been an important Avenger in the comics and has become a feminist icon since her debut in 1980. If a solo Hulk movie is in the works at Marvel Studios then She-Hulk could prove a great addition and companion of Bruce and the Hulk.

Amadeus Cho
Created by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa in 2006, Amadeus has become the most prominent Korean-American character in American comic book history. Deeply connected to both the Hulk and Hercules in the comics Amadeus is also the seventh-smartest person in the Marvel Universe. Created in order to improve diversity within Marvel comics, he would be an ideal addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If brought into the MCU, Amadeus could be related to Helen Cho, an original Korean character introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Amadeus Cho could be an ideal recruit for season 4 of Agents of SHIELD.

Echo
Raised by the Kingpin, Echo was first introduced as an antagonist of Daredevil. Echo aka May Lopez is of both Native American and Hispanic heritage, she is also the most prominent deaf superhero in comic books. Another strong female character who proved to be more than a match for Matt Murdock himself. After the praise Daredevil has received for its portrayal of the blind vigilante, Echo seems like the next progressive step for the Netflix show to take.

Runaways
Runaways were first introduced in 2003 as a team of super-powered teenagers, who were collectively the children of a group of nefarious villains. Runaways was a great representative of youth in comics, showing the group forced into a new and dangerous world. The core characters of the series represent a vast demographic of ethnicities and includes the story of a young character coming to terms with her sexuality and eventually embracing it with a same-sex relationship. Runaways has long been rumoured for either a film or a TV series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Would you like to see more diversity in the MCU? What are you favourite characters from the comics that you’d like to be translated onto screen?

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‘Assassin’s Creed’ Trailer Debuts

Kaitlyn Booth

May 12, 2016

Video game movies have a long tradition of not being very good and everyone who comes into the genre proclaims that this is going to be the one that changes that. Assassin’s Creed has a lot of pressure on it since this is one of the biggest attempts of make this genre work. Ubisoft has had a lot of input this time around and it looks interesting if nothing else.

Assassin’s Creed stars Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Apocalypse, Macbeth, Prometheus) and Marion Cotillard (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Macbeth). It is being directed by Justin Kurzel (Macbeth) and is being written by Bill Collage, Adam Cooper, and Michael Lesslie. It is being released on December 21, 2016.

Without further ado:

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X-Men: Apocalypse Post-Credit Scene Teased

Kaitlyn Booth

May 11, 2016

This article contains no direct spoilers for X-Men: Apocalypse though this could give you hints about what the post-credit scene could be. Proceed with caution.

Two of your reviewers here at Monkeys Fighting Robots have seen X-Men: Apocalypse (mine and Matthew’s reviews) and there wasn’t any after credit scene for our screenings. However, when Simon Kinberg spoke to Collider today he mentioned a post-credit scene. Kinberg said “It’s a nod toward potentially a lot of different movies. I mean certainly the Wolverine movie is related to what happens at the end of it, but there’s also another character that’s introduced, at least in name, in the tag and he could show up in any host of different X-Men films. Maybe a Gambit movie, maybe another X-Men movie.”

So what does this tease mean? The new Wolverine movie has just begun filming so teasing for that seems like a given and Bryan Singer clearly has plans for his next installment. There are also the rumors about a New Mutants movie that could be in the works and that forever delayed Gambit movie. X-Men: Days of Future Past set up X-Men: Apocalypse so we’ll have to wait until May 27th to see what they have in store.

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