April wasn't the complete bust I thought it would be. Furious 7 delivered. Unfriended was fun. Ex Machina was better than expected. It was a far cry from overflowing with options though. That's not the case this month. There's one or two movies every week that I'm looking forward to and several of those are the kind that I set my calendar around. This will not be a month for art house cinema I'm sorry to say. It's blockbuster season!
2015
2014
2013
5/1
Working For It: The first Avengers is the third highest grossing movie of all time, destroyed the opening weekend box office record, cemented the Marvel brand as a force to be reckoned with, and, oh yeah, was a pretty damn good movie. The whole cast of the first is back as well as additions like my favorite Olsen (Elizabeth), Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and of course, James Spader as the voice of Voltron, which is not the Voltron I initially assumed it was. Joss Whedon is directing again as well, so that's a big plus.
Working Against It: There's nothing working against this. There's just not. The next movie I'm looking forward to as much as this is Star Wars. Good job Disney!
Interest Level: Highest available
Working For It: A Carey Mulligan Victorian period piece about a woman choosing from three suitors is really only on my radar because of that first part: Carey Mulligan. She doesn't do enough movies, so any chance I get to see her is worth considering.
Working Against It: This does not sound like a movie that I'd like much. I haven't seen anything else from the director (notably The Hunt) so I don't know what to expect. This is certain to make a netflix queue of mine in the future. Nothing more.
Interest Level: Much lower than for Avengers
Working For It: This is a Sundance movie I believe starring Kristen Wiig as a mentally unstable women who wins the lottery and buys her own talk show. It sounds crazy enough to be sneaky good counter programming.
Working Against It: I'm not sure when this would even expand wide enough for me to see it. As a September release, I'd consider it a lot more.
Interest Level: Slight
5/8
Working For It: A road trip buddy cop movie starring Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon as a cop who looks like she belongs in Super Troopers? I mean, sure. Why not? Shockingly, I've seen all of director Anne Fletcher's movies, liking some (The Proposal) more than others (27 Dresses). Wild reminded me how much I love Resse Witherspoon and that's the driving force of my interest in this.
Working Against It: The advertising for this has already started pretty hard. That worries me. It reeks of desperation (anyone remember Unfinished Business a couple months ago?). That could just be me. I'm pretty committed to seeing it already, so it doesn't much matter.
Interest Level: cautious, clear-eyed interest
5/15
Working For It: The trailers make this look like a god-damn masterpiece. With a core cast of Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, and Nicholas Hoult, I know it won't be lacking in performances I like. This is the Mad Max that George Miller always wanted to make, at least in terms of the budget. There's almost no way this meets the high expectations I have for it, but it sure looks like it's going to try.
Working Against It: I haven't seen any of the original movies. I'm basing a lot of excitement on reputation alone. That's dangerous, but as someone who loved The Matrix Reloaded, it would be fine with me if this is nothing but a bunch of explosions and car crashes with no other aim.
Interest Level: A step below Avengers
Working For It: Pitch Perfect was a stealth hit in 2012 and its reputation has only gotten better. Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, and virtually everyone else are back. Even if it's just more of the same that's good enough for me.
Working Against It: This is Elizabeth Banks' feature directorial debut (she was a producer for the first movie). That's a bit of a wild-card, but I don't think there's much to worry about there. No, the only concern should be if the alchemy that made the original work can be reproduced or not.
Interest Level: It's reaching a fever pitch.
Working For It: Blythe Danner plays a woman in her 70's who decides to start dating again. Her along with Martin Starr (Silicon Valley), Sam Elliott (any cowboy, ever), Malin Ackerman (Trophy Wife), June Squibb (Nebraska), and Rhea Perlman (Cheers) make for an interesting cast.
Working Against It: Director Brett Haley's only other feature was The New Year in 2010, which I never saw. This is already going to be a busy weekend. I don't imagine I'll have time to fit in this year's over-50 counter programming play.
Interest Level: My interest is on life support
5/22
Working For It: This is a movie based of the land in the Magic Kingdom parks. It's directed by Brad Bird (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Incredibles, The Iron Giant). They got George Clooney and Hugh Laurie, among others, on board. I, for one, will have just returned from a trip to Disney World. I don't see a reason to not be excited.
Working Against It: The trailers I've seen still don't really explain what the movie is. Something about an alternate world of retro futurism that needs to be saved. Being based on the land in the Magic Kingdom, there's a concern that the focus is on corporate synergy first, story second. That could be unfounded, but you can't deny that it's there.
Interest Level: Suspiciously high
Working For It: I'm always up for a good horror movie. Reboots aren't necessarily bad as long as they play for scares more than nostalgia. Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Jared Harris are all interesting actors who I've liked in things before.
Working Against It: Any time a horror movie gets a PG-13 rating, that concerns me. It also concerns me how similar this feels to the Insidious movies which are already three movies in.
Interest Level: Frighteningly low
5/29
Working For It: It's a Cameron Crowe movie with Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski, and Bill Murray. I don't even need to know the plot to consider seeing this based on that list. As far as I know, the plot is something about a military officer returning to a Hawaiian base for some publicity thing. That's as much of a spine of a story as Crowe needs.
Working Against It: We're ready to forgive Elizabethtown by now, right? It wasn't even that bad. It was too listless, that's all. Aloha runs the same risk though. Crowe likes gentle pacing in his movies. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't it kind of meanders forever and mercifully ends. Right now, it's hard to tell where this will fall.
Interest Level: Very curious about it
Working For It: It's a big ass disaster movie starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. What more do you need to know? That's either the selling point or the nail in the coffin.
Working Against It: This is director Brad Peyton's first not sequel feature, and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore don't inspire much confidence. I'm expecting The Day After Tomorrow here, not Independence Day. That's the important piece of this: expectations.
Interest Level: Low, through no fault of its own.
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