This holiday season, Academy Award® winner Robert Zemeckis—the groundbreaking filmmaker behind Forrest Gump, Flight and Cast Away—directs Steve Carell in the most original movie of the year. Welcome to Marwen tells the miraculous true story of one broken man's fight as he discovers how artistic imagination can restore the human spirit.
When a devastating attack shatters Mark Hogancamp (Carell) and wipes away all memories, no one expected recovery. Putting together pieces from his old and new life, Mark meticulously creates a wondrous town where he can heal and be heroic. As he builds an astonishing art installation—a testament to the most powerful women he knows—through his fantasy world, he draws strength to triumph in the real one.
In a bold, wondrous and timely film from this revolutionary pioneer of contemporary cinema, Welcome to Marwen shows that when your only weapon is your imagination...you'll find courage in the most unexpected place.
The epic drama is produced by Oscar®-winning producer Steve Starkey (Forrest Gump, Flight), Jack Rapke (Cast Away, Flight), and Cherylanne Martin (The Pacific, Flight) of Zemeckis' Universal-based ImageMovers banner produce alongside the director. It is executive produced by Jackie Levine, as well as Jeff Malmberg, who directed the riveting 2010 documentary (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1391092/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk1) that inspired the film.
LEARNIN TO WALK AGAINNN
That trailer is a goddamn disaster lol
But... he found courage... in the most unexpected place!
I watched this earlier with no sound and thought it had some Kaufman-esque promise. But the script seems quite bad. These are not good words.
If that trailer is any indication whatsoever, there's a very good chance this will be one of the worst movies of all time.
I've never seen it, but I remember watching the trailer for the original documentary based on this story Marwencol, and it looked wacky but awesome. It also has 98% Rotten Tomatoes -> http://marwencol.com (http://marwencol.com)
It seems like Zemeckis is obsessed with these stories where he can experiment with unusual visual effects and stuff, but stories themselves are just not that interesting. I keep thinking it would have been cool for Zemeckis to take on something like Ready Player One and see how his view would have differed from Spielberg's.
Quote from: Kal on July 06, 2018, 08:33:38 PM
It seems like Zemeckis is obsessed with these stories where he can experiment with unusual visual effects and stuff, but stories themselves are just not that interesting.
This is a super interesting story though. It's just that the trailer's tone is such a mismatch. That song with the closeup of a swastika? American Nazis? Oof. It really has been normalized. This is not whimsical or inspirational subject matter. Fucking grim.
I should add, Castaway is charming but grim. Zemeckis could go grim and this is just advertising.
It's a clear contender for cult, for reasons a o Scott mentions in his review
QuoteThere is not much in this movie that feels authentic or fully realized, but its very strangeness makes it hard to forget or dismiss.
As far I can tell zemeckis is not the hollywood type. He is in fact a mainstream subversive element. Too weird to be lame. He might be better appreciated in later days not by the normies but by the weirdos.
has anyone taken a bullet for the team on seeing this in the theaters yet?
i just realized Steve Carrell has been in more Oscar bait than any other actor this decade. I mean there might be other actors who are in more Oscar contenders like Stephen Root, but Carrell seems to be signing up for these movies solely because his manager wants an Oscar for homeboy. Between this, Foxcatcher, and the Big Short - they all seem to be taking risks that only seem like risks to 60-year old Academy members too.
Quote from: pete on December 28, 2018, 04:30:32 AM
has anyone taken a bullet for the team on seeing this in the theaters yet?
If one of you guys was literally being held at gunpoint and the only way to save your life was to watch this movie in a theater... I would still try and stall for time while I developed an alternate plan.
have you seen it?!
This is my favorite comment so far from skimming the reviews:
Quote
If you like to complain that studio movies have gotten stale and formulaic, here's your punishment.
Ordinarily I can be persuaded to issue some light mockery of a bad movie, but Welcome to Marwen is such a smushed-puppy of a film that I don't want to make fun of it; I want to know where I can send flowers.
This theater-emptier must be one of the most bizarrely misconceived attempts at blockbuster entertainment ever released by a major studio.
I generally don't/won't tolerate films made when there are pre-existing documentaries that have covered the subject quite well already. (Whom do you think is mostly likely to do a remake of "Hearts of Darkness--A Filmmakers Apocalpyse", for example?)
I kind of like that this thing that nobody seems to want exists. Even if it also seems to be bad.
it's writing itself
the normal person: let's watch The 40-Year-Old Virgin?
the weirdo: I brought my Welcome to Marwen blu-ray