2014
2013
6/3
Working For It: This is based on a popular British novel. One look at the poster and you can tell that it's a romance movie, not far removed from the Nicolas Sparks factory. This has some die hard fans, so I'm hoping there's something special about it. While I don't specifically recognize Sam Claflin, despite seeing him in several movies, I do know Emilia Clarke. After years on Game of Thrones and being the best part about Terminator Genisys, I'm hoping for all the success in the world for her. Throw in stalwarts like Charles Dance and Janet McTeer along with Jenna Coleman (btw, how is she not leading her own movies like this yet?) and good things can follow.
Working Against It: The trailer reminds me of Dying Young with a hint of The Intouchables. The director (Thea Sharrock) is pretty green. Jojo Moyes wrote the novel and the screenplay, but this is her first screenplay credit. There's a lot of question marks with this one and the trailer sure covers a lot of the movie already.
Verdict: It can wait, although I intend to see it eventually.
Working For It: This is essentially The Lonely Island taking on This Is Spinal Tap. Between their work on SNL. and Hot Rod, there's plenty already out there to figure out if this is your kind of humor or not. Andy Samberg is giving an incredibly Andy Samberg performance. This is overflowing with SNL veterans and a few outsiders like Imogen Poots and Will Arnett.
Working Against It: I like The Lonely Island in a "polite chuckle" way. I have nothing against them, but the comedy has never fully clicked with me. It was wise to choose a project that allows them to create a lot of music, because that is their greatest strength. I don't see much upside though.
Verdict: It's unlikely that I'll see it in theaters unless invited by someone else.
Working For It: It's TMNT, now with Bebop, Rocksteady, and Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) to join Megan Fox, Will Arnett, and the others. As the trailers have made perfectly clear by now, the story and the full title doesn't matter at all.
Working Against It: ...Which is good, because I have no idea what this movie is about. For example, Tyler Perry is listed in the credits as Baxter Stockman. Is he a main villain or cannon fodder? I just don't know what to expect going into this.
Verdict: It's priority viewing even if I'm not crazy excited about it.
Working For It: Everyone has heard about the Kitty Genovese murder. That's the one where 38 people watched from their apartments as she was being killed and no one called 911. Well, her brother doesn't buy that story. This is a documentary about his investigation into that murder and seems to challenge many commonly accepted truths about that case.
Working Against It: The trailer sure wants to make this more of a thriller than an investigation. I have to hope the final product isn't as intrusive to the story as it seems.
Verdict: I'll be looking for this on Netflix or HBOGo or somewhere. This sounds really interesting.
6/10
Working For It: The first Conjuring was as good as any major studio horror movie in the last decade, with a premise that welcomed additional installments. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are back to help a new family in "England's Amityville". James Wan is directing again too. There's no reason to think you won't like this if you liked the first.
Working Against It: The one thing that worries me is that the trailer is trying a little too hard to up the stakes. Some escalation is fine, but when sequels go too big, too fast, that becomes a problem.
Verdict: There's too much goodwill from the first movie (ignoring Annabelle) to not see this.
Working For It: The Four Horsemen are back, swapping out one Bachelorette star (Isla Fisher) with another (Lizzie Caplan). While the first movie was a surprise hit, everyone is going into this one with confidence. Mark Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman are back as well. Daniel Radcliffe has been added as an adversary. The illusions are bigger, as are the stakes.
Working Against It: The first movie was underwhelming and the sequel appears to be doubling down on everything that bothered me with the first. This is looking like another case of a studio pushing its luck with a fluke hit (See: London Has Fallen, Alice: Through The Looking Glass).
Verdict: I have a feeling that I'll see this even though I don't want to.
Working For It: It sure looks pretty. They've put in years of work to get those orcs looking great. Director Duncan Jones has some solid credits to his name (Moon, Source Code). The cast, including Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, and Toby Kebbell, is very fantasy/genre friendly.
Working Against It: I have to go with a gut feeling on this. I have no desire to see this. The trailers make it look pretty generic. The history of video game adaptations is pretty bleak. And I'm sorry, but I can't take Paula Patton's mouth piece seriously.
Verdict: Thanks to Alice Through the Looking Glass, this won't be the biggest flop of the summer.
Working For It: Jude Law is Thomas Wolfe. Colin Firth is his publisher tasked with cutting down the manuscript that became Of Time and the River. Difficult genius meets conservative teacher. You know the drill.
Working Against It: All the best critics in 1996 are positively raving about it. Even though I don't know this specific story, I know this movie already.
Verdict: I've already forgotten about this.
6/17
Working For It: The Rock and Kevin Hart in a buddy cop action movie. It doesn't look decidedly different than Ride Along. What intrigues me is that the screenplay is from Ike Barinholtz (Morgan from The Mindy Project), his writing partner, and director Rawson Marshall Thurber, who also directed Dodgeball and We're the Millers.
Working Against It: There's no other way to look at this than as a safe studio comedy. That's fine. It just means it will rely on the strength of the performers. The Rock is still not appreciated enough as a box office king with movie star charisma, but I don't see Kevin Hart getting the best out of him. Neither of them want to be the straight man in this and I'm not sure how that will work out. I'd gladly be wrong though.
Verdict: Had it been a January release, I'd've probably seen it. In June, that's doubtful.
Working For It: After 13 years, Finding Nemo is still beloved and Ellen Degeneres is just as relevant as ever. Pixar has committed to making sequels of just about everything now, so why not this? Pixar isn't all that high on turnover so it's a lot of the same team that made the original. It may not be as fresh but it'll probably be just as fun.
Working Against It: Has it really be 13 years? It doesn't feel that long. It'd be nice to see more originals from Pixar. The sequels have been a mixed bag so far. I hope that don't accidentally stain the legacy of one of their most popular movies.
Verdict: Not only will I see it. I'm looking forward to seeing it a lot.
Working For It: This guy (Andy Powers) turns into a clown after dressing like one for his son's birthday party. You see, the costume was posessed by a demon. This looks like an orgy of horrifying clown imagery. Oddly, it's one of the few directed features of the director of the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. So, that's weird.
Working Against It: I worry about any movie with more than a year between the IMDB year (2014) and the BoxOfficeMojo year (2016). That normally means it's been in limbo for a while and for a reason.
Verdict: No thanks. Clowns aren't my thing, for comedy or horror.
5/24
Working For It: Matthew McConaughey is Newton Knight, who led a slave revolt against the Confederacy in Jones county Mississippi. It has a lot of actors I like, including Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Keri Russell, Mahershala Ali, and...well, actually, that might be it, but I really like all of those actors. And Gary Ross' history as a feature director is pretty unimpeachable (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit, and The Hunger Games. That's it).
Working Against It: This looks really White Savior-y in a kind of tone-deaf way. I don't want to judge it until I've seen it. That's my concern though. The ad campaign isn't doing it any favors.
Verdict: I'm secretly hoping this is great, but the advertising load for it already is looking deperate. There's normally a reason for that.
Working For It: You know Independence Day. That epic, kind of [very] cheesy action epic that announced Will Smith as the king of the box office for the next decade. Well, it's back, without Will Smith, but with basically everyone else. Then, throw in Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher (no recognizable credits), and Maika Monroe (It Follows). Rolland Emmirich has had a lot of misses latelty (Stonewall, White House Down, Anonymous), but this is the kind of thing he does well.
Working Against It: Part of me is a little sad that they recast Mae Whitman's role in the original even though I like her replacement (Monroe). I also question if this series should go on without Will Smith, even though his character technically isn't essential. Mostly, I'm just afraid that if this isn't good, it will make me reassess the original, which I know isn't perfect but I love anyway.
Verdict: I'll be the one with the large popcorn, ready to have a good time. Please leave your cynicism at home.
Working For It: Elle Fanning plays the Natalie Portman role in Black Swan except this time, it's in the modeling world. Nicolas Winding Refn still has my attention after Drive and to a lesser extent, Bronson. Visually, it looks great. The cast is full of people I like or am curious to see more of: Bella Heathcoate (Dark Shadows, Not Fade Away), Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Jena Malone (Cheaters, Hunger Games), Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road). Apparently it was widely reviled when it screened at Cannes this year which makes me even more curious.
Working Against It: This has potential to miss big. It looks intriguing in the same way that a Terrence Malick movie does, which is a little scary.
Verdict: I don't think I'm brave enough to see it in theaters. I will see it though.
Working For It: Paul Dano finds a dead body (Daniel Radcliffe). He takes the body with him through the forest, and the body has special powers that Dano might be imagining. I really can't describe it. The trailer is bizarre in a great way. It's undeniably a Sundance movie, which are some of my favorites. And Mary Elizabeth Winstead is in it too. Yay!
Working Against It: I don't know any of writers/directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's other work, making this a wild card in a busy season.
Verdict: Maybe if there's a quiet weekend in July. Odds are I'll be catching it on Netflix sometime.
Working For It: Another Sundance movie trickling into theaters. It has four stories all featuring the same Wiener Dog. It's a comedy. It has Grete Gerwig, Ellen Byrstyn, Zosia Mamet (and her sister Clara Mamet), Julie Delpy, Danny Devito, and others. Writer/director Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness) never fails to be interesting.
Working Against It: Solondz scares me a little. He likes to go to some dark places. I have to prepare myself for his movies.
Verdict: Solondz movies I watch at home.
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