2015
2014
2013
10/2
Working For It: Matt Damon plays an astronaut accidentally stranded on Mars and how he has to survive until a rescue party returns to get him. It's got a crazy-good cast including Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Chiwetel Ojiofor, Donald Glover, and many others. It looks like Interstellar meets Gravity, which is more than good enough for me.
Working Against It: “Directed by Ridley Scott” is not the selling point that it once was. Exodus was pretty bad and Prometheus was moderate at best. Scott's not that far removed from good work though, and I haven't heard a negative review yet.
Interest Level: Top tier
Working For It: It's a documentary about Nobel Prize Winner Malal Yousafzai. All I really know about her is that she got the Nobel prize, so this could be a good learning experience.
Working Against It: As a documentary subject, I'm not pulled toward Malala. I know enough to know that this is a surface-level story. I'm in no hurry on this.
Interest Level: Lowish
Working For It: I get vertigo just watching the trailer. It's the story of Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers in the 70s. Anyone smart enough to have seen the documentary Man on Wire knows that this is a good story and Robert Zemeckis is sure to bring the spectacle. You better believe I'll be looking to see this on the biggest screen I can find.
Working Against It: There's a slight concern that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's accent is a little on the absurd side (If you listen to Petit in interviews, you realize that it's not exaggerated though).
Interest Level: Highest possible
Working For It: Julianne Moore and Ellen Page play a couple trying to get one another's benefits after one is diagnosed with cancer. It certainly sounds like an Oscar player for the acting roles.
Working Against It: I worry that this will be like Still Alice in that it'll have great performances but struggle to find enough material without getting repetitive.
Interest Level: Fair
Working For It: Apparently, this John Cusack, Yun-Fat Chow, David Morse movie has been in production hell since 2008. I have no idea what it's about, but any movie with that much history is worth looking at, for train-wreck reasons if nothing else.
Working Against It: Nothing is worth this long a wait.
Interest Level: Considerably low.
10/9
Working For It: It's a live-action Peter Pan origin story starring Hugh Jackman, Rooney Mara, and others. It looks like a fresh perspective on a story that I already quite enjoy.
Working Against It: I haven't been crazy about any of Joe Wright's movies (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, etc.). Mostly though, I have no desire to see this. I can't place exactly why. I just don't. I'd rather just watch Finding Neverland again.
Interest Level: Low
Working For It: Directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle. Written by Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin. Starring the always great Michael Fassbender as the modern legend, Steve Jobs. It's got Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels. This is dripping with prestige.
Working Against It: I don't subscribe to the Gospel of Jobs, so there's a chance this will have the same “too soon” feeling of The Social Network.
Interest Level: Pretty High
Working For It: This is sort of a horror-comedy about a girl pulled into 80s slasher movies. Vera Farmiga's daughter Taissa is at the center of an eclectic “TV person cast” including Malin Akerman, Adam DeVine (Woraholics), Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), and Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development). And, it's the director's first feature since A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas.
Working Against It: There's a lot of way this movie can go wrong. So, so many.
Interest Level: Cautiously moderate.
10/16
Working For It: Directed by Steven Spielberg. Co-written by the Coen brothers. Starring Tom Hanks. Period piece. What's not to be excited about?
Working Against It: Hmm. The last Spielberg movie I didn't like...Indiana Jones 4. But that's not on him...The Terminal wasn't great, but I still likes it. Amistad? Perhaps. Geez, I feel pretty confident about this.
Interest Level: Quite high.
Working For It: This Guillermo del Toro horror movie looks gorgeous. This is the second Jessica Chastain movie I'm certain to see this month, not to mention Loki, Alice, and Jax.
Working Against It: Honestly, looking at del Toro's credits as a director, I'm not a huge fan all-around. Sure, Pacific Rim was great and I wouldn't dare argue again Pan's Labyrinth. I can't defend Blade II or Hellboy II quite as much. Obviously, those were sequels though. Crimson Peak is del Toro as master of his own fate.
Interest Level: Way up there. Only to be missed because so many good things are coming out this month.
Working For It: Jack Black leads a children's horror comedy based on the book series that dominated my grade school years. That's a lot working for it right there.
Working Against It: This is the third most interesting nationwide release this weekend alone. Those are tough numbers to beat.
Interest Level: Moderate
Working For It: Cate Blanchett is back in Oscar discussion what looks like the second best newsroom movie based on something that happened in the early 2000s this fall. It's also got Elisabeth Moss and Robert Redford though. So, there's that.
Working Against It: It's a movie about the 60 Minutes investigation that dug into George W. Bush's military experience. That sounds a bit more political than I care to see. Give Bush at least a decade before you start going after him. It's too easy still.
Interest Level: Decidedly low.
Working For It: Brie Lason plays a mother who has been trapped in a room with her son by the father of said son for several years. They escape and try to make sense of the outside world. Word is, Larson is great in this. I just watched Short Term 12, so I don't have any trouble believing that.
Working Against It: Not much other than a lack of nationwide expansion and a glut of options.
Interest Level: Up there
10/23
Working For It: It's Kitchen Confidential: The Movie, putting Bradley Cooper back in the kitchen. That's kind of cool.
Working Against It: John Wells' last movie, August: Osage County, was underwhelming. This movie looks like it's not aspiring to much and I will give it attention accordingly. I only even brought this up so I could mention the Kitchen Confidential thing.
Interest Level: Fairly non-existent
Working For It: Remember Jem, the animated series? God, nostalgia is a powerful thing. And hey, they got Molly Ringwald, because when you're in the business of taking things from the 80s, why not get Molly Ringwald?
Working Against It: This looks misguided and definitely not targeted to me or my interests.
Interest Level: Very low
Working For It: Vin Diesel is "The Last Witch Hunter".
Working Against It: If that last thing doesn't have you on board already, then adding "From the director of Sahara" sure isn't going to help.
Interest Level: Not quite there
Working For It: I'm hopelessly in the tank for the Paranormal Activity franchise. They get more convoluted with each movie and I simply don't care. As long as there are some effective scares and it doesn't get too bogged down in mythology, I'm giving it a chance.
Working Against It: Most people are more tired of these movies than I am.
Interest Level: Higher than it should be.
Working For It: It's a Barry Levinson movie starring Bill Murray as a music manager who discovers a talented young singer or something.
Working Against It: I've seen a lot of Barry Levinson movies it turns out, and it's been nearly 30 years since I really liked one. Ok, I guess Envy was fine.
Interest Level: Low
Working For It: Carey Mulligan doesn't make enough movies, so I'm at least curious whenever I hear about a new one with her. One with Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep certainly has my attention. I'm embarrassingly under-educated on the women's suffragette movement, so this could be a good way in.
Working Against It: I've been hearing the same "good acting, disappointing movie" whispers that a lot of movies run into this time of year. If this doesn't even play into the Oscar discussion despite this cast, that will be a big warning sign.
Interest Level: Lower that it should be.
10/30
Working For It: What started as a Zac Efron/Amber Heard movie is now a Nicholas Hoult/Felicity Jones movie. That's an upgrade. I'd call the casting of Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley a good sign too, but both have a history of being in occasional bad movies just for the fun of it.
Working Against It: I have zero knowledge of what this is about. I have a title and a cast. If I see this, I imagine it will be for the cast.
Interest Level: Undetermined, but probably not that high
Working For It: It's a Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton movie about American political strategists running a South American election. I think it's more of a comedy, which fits director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Your Highness) better.
Working Against It: Green also made The Sitter and Prince Avalanche more recently. Sandra Bullock isn't always great at knowing which projects to avoid, so she's not a guarantee of quality the way I'd like to believe.
Interest Level: Somewhat Low
Working For It: The title doesn't leave a lot of mystery. It's exactly what it sounds like.
Working Against It: It's starring Patrick Schwarzenegger. Should I know him as anything other than his father's son?
Interest Level: Very Low
No comments:
Post a Comment