Well, October certainly looks better. There's several movies I'm really looking forward to after hearing rumblings from the festival circuit. Those "prestige" movies will need to hold me over, because otherwise, it's not looking too strong. The horror options are mostly studio horror that's trying to appeal to teens and the tentpole movies are from franchises that the movie star leads are dragging with them into significance. Ignore my negativity though. There will be plenty to keep me busy. It's not like I'm going to be so bereft of options that I'll be seeing the Madea movie.
2014
2013
10/7
The story of Nat Turner's slave rebellion.
Working For It: It was a Sundance sensation and immediately presumed to be an Oscar player. It looks like an angrier 12 Years a Slave with great ambition.
Working Against It: Writer/director/producer/star Nate Parker is facing some public backlash after news came out that he faced rape charges back in 1999, and he hasn't weathered the press very well. That only matters for the Oscar chances though. Apparently, this is a pretty brutal movie. Even if it's to make a point, I don't particularly care for movies that relish in putting people in pain. That could scare me away until a DVD release.
Verdict: Very likely to see this.
A girl becomes haunted by a classmate after she defriends her on Facebook.
Working For It: I can make all the jokes I want, but I saw Unfriended in theaters. If there's a clever idea behind it, I'll give a lot of scary movies a chance.
Working Against It: Only, there isn't a clever idea here. It looks dated before it's even been released. If nothing else, a movie like this should be able to pull me in by casting interesting or attractive young people. Sadly, I only know Alycia Debnam-Carey from her work on Fear the Walking Dead, playing a character who annoyed me on a show I had to stop watching.
Verdict: Request denied
Emily Blunt gets tied into the investigation of a woman who goes missing. The woman is part of a couple Blunt watches every day on her train ride.
Working For It: I love Emily Blunt. I'm a big fan of Justin Theroux, Rebecca Ferguson, Luke Evans, and Allison Janney too. I get the feeling that I'll even remember who Haley Bennett is by the end of the year. It looks like a thriller in the vein of Gone Girl which was one of my favorite films of 2014.
Working Against It: I feel like the trailer is designed just to confuse me. It feels like it's trying to hide more than just the twists it promises. As is, it looks like it's trying a little too hard to recapture David Fincher's Gone Girl tone.
Verdict: I'm not even sure that awful reviews could stop me from seeing this.
A middle schooler leads a revolt against the draconian rule of his school's faculty. Think, Diary of a Wimpy Kid with the principal from The Breakfast Club.
Working For It: Occasionally, there's a kids movie that comes out that get a much better adult cast than it deserves. I don't know if it's because the director or producer is calling in some favors or some other reason. Unaccompanied Minors immediately comes to mind as an example. Middle School has one of those casts as well, including Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), Rhetta (Parks & Rec), Andy Daly (Review), and others.
Working Against It: Well, the trailer tells too much of the plot. That's a minor pet peeve. And, the downside to getting good people for the adult cast is that I then feel bad seeing Lauren Graham relegated to sandwich and advice duty or Andy Daly trying to seriously play such an arch character.
Verdict: That's a hard no.
The Duck Dynasty patriarch muses about why god must exist.
Working For It: It could be...interesting to see what his take is.
Working Against It: The only trailer I've seen screams "vanity project" and uses some pretty disgusting comparisons (as well as footage). There's interesting ways to make, essentially, an anti-Religulous. This is not it.
Verdict: Not a chance.
A mysterious evil haunts a village, more specifically, a mother and a daughter in Tehran in the 1980s.
Working For It: It looks genuinely unnerving. Then again, any horror trailer can be cut to do that. It doesn't give away too much of the story, which I like. I can't make a judgment based on the actors since I don't know any of them. It could be a fun watch. I always mean to watch more foreign horror.
Working Against It: I'm getting some major Happy Feet vibes. I should clarify. The first 90% of Happy Feet was fine, then at the very end, it dropped the rest of the story entirely to get preachy. I can already see how this film could paint some supernatural story the whole time, then just turn into some anti-war message at the very end like a bad M. Night Shaymalan twist. If that can do that without breaking the flow of the rest of the movie, please, by all means do it. Otherwise, that would just annoy me. These are just the vibes I'm getting though.
Verdict: Eventually, I assume. Not in a theater.
10/14
Ben Affleck is a genius accountant and perhaps something much more nefarious.
Working For It: I'm intrigued by this a lot, but not for the thriller aspects. Everything I've seen so far implies that the movie is about Ben Affleck's character without being told from his perspective. It's about how the world responds to him. If that holds, that's an uncommon way to view a movie and I'd be curious to see that. Even if it fails to be that, I'm seeing a movie with a cast of Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Lithgow. I just am. Oh, and it's from the director (Gavin O'Connor) of Warrior, one of my favorite movies.
Working Against It: This isn't a genre that I'm blindly forgiving of. I'll still enjoy the hell out of a bad Apatow comedy or a coming of age story, but a high level crime thriller - I'm not as forgiving. That won't stop me from getting in the theater though. And It's not like O'Connor has a perfect track record.
Verdict: An opening weekend lock.
A Kevin Hart stand-up special in front of a football stadium.
Working For It: I'll admit, a lot of the stupid humor from the opening James Bond spy segment made me chuckle. Hart is a comedian who plays off his energy more than the writing, so he's not as affected by large crowds as others would be.
Working Against It: I kind of hate stand-up movies. Specials I love. By the time they reach feature film level though, it's more about the vanity of the performer and more time is spent on the crowd cheering than the comedian telling the joke.
Verdict: I've got to get to about two dozen stand up specials in my Netflix queue first.
Apparently, Mattel has these Max Steel toys, so now there's a movie.
Working For It: Josh Brener (Bighead from Silicon Valley) gets to be the voice of Max's floating robot friend. I like Josh Brener.
Working Against It: I actually have no issue with the rampant branding in Hollywood right now. I loved the first Transformers movie. I think there's potential for a G.I. Joe movie to eventually be pretty good somewhere down the line. I have no idea what Max Steel is and, based on the trailer, all Max Steel is is "generic". I hope Open Road Films doesn't take too big of a financial hit on this.
Verdict: I can't conceive of a situation in which I'd see this.
Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams (the white one), and Laura Dern are all women trying to live empowered lives in the Northeast U.S.
Working For It: Those three women are enough to at least make me curious. I'm not sure what the story of the film really is. It looks almost like an anthology. That could be cool. The stories all seem interesting in a quiet way.
Working Against It: All I know about writer/director Kelly Reichardt is that she directed a movie with Will Oldham in it which is neat. If that sounds like I'm grasping, you'd be right. This does look a little like it's in the "Sleepy Sundance" category (Prince Avalanche, Results): films that meander for 90 minutes then end out of obligation.
Verdict: I'll be looking for it on Netflix.
A vigilante border patrol minuteman "shoots him some Mexicans" trying to cross the border.
Working For It: The idea of crossing the US/Mexican border as a horror movie is intriguing. Jeffrey Dean Morgan looks as scary as Gael Garcia Bernal looks scared.
Working Against It: Well, it doesn't help that this has been delayed once already. The trailer plays up the Alfonso Cuaron connection. His son directed this though. As we saw with Morgan last month, being someone's offspring doesn't mean much toward the final product. The trailer gives a way a bit too much of the story.
Verdict: A soft "pass".
10/21
Madea finds herself in the middle of a horror movie.
Working For It: The more absurd the scenario for the Madea movie, the better the jokes land. And this doesn't appear to take itself so damn seriously.
Working Against It: I'm past the point of being irritated by the Madea movies. They are what they are. Nothing's changing them. I'll continue to avoid them. Make no mistake though, I will not be seeing this.
Verdict: Nope
The story of Rachel Scott, one of the victims of the Columbine shooting.
Working For It: ...No.
Working Against It: Eww, this movie makes me feel dirty. I guess Rachel has become sort of figurehead since her death, with her journal writings being published and a foundation being started with her name. This film just looks crass and exploitative though. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I have no desire to find out.
Verdict: I'm actively avoiding it.
Tom Cruise returns as Jack Reacher, a renegade former major in the U.S. Military Police Corps. This time, he has to uncover a government conspiracy to clear his and a friend's (Cobie Smulders') names.
Working For It: The first Jack Reacher movie was fine. This looks similar, only switch out Rosamind Pike with Smulders (who is more likely to get in on the action). Christopher McQuarrie (Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation) is gone from the director's chair, but Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai, Glory) is a fine replacement.
Working Against It: I liked Jack Reacher. I didn't love it. In fact, I struggle to recall any plot point from that movie. In other words, it's a disposable franchise in my mind.
Verdict: It's not like anything else that week looks better.
Isla Fisher and Zach Galifianakis find out that their perfect new neighbors (Gal Gadot and Jon Hamm) are international spies.
Working For It: I really like three fourths of that cast, and even Zach Galifianakis I like in theory. It's from the director of Superbad (Greg Motolla), so there's eternal goodwill there. Fisher in particular I don't get to see enough.
Working Against It: Some movies feel like they are the first house in a new neighborhood. Others are like a new street that's being built up in an existing neighborhood. Then, others, are like trying to build a house in the space between two houses that have been around forever right next to each other. I'm sure this movie will be amusing enough, but I can't help but compare it to the dozens of other movies out there that look exactly like it. And I'd be way more comfortable if this looked like more of an ensemble than Galifianakis-led.
Verdict: Maybe if someone else convinces me.
The story of the original evil Ouija board from all the way back in the 60s.
Working For It: I love the hell out of Mike Flannagan, more specifically, his film Oculus (and Hush to a lesser degree). His involvement alone piques my interest. The Ouija idea is versatile enough to not be weighed down by previous installments being underwhelming and I do like Elizabeth Reaser.
Working Against It: Of all the genres that have had films inspired by a toy or game, horror is probably the toughest sell. It's especially hard when it looks like the instruction from the studio was "Make The Conjuring but with a Ouija board."
Verdict: I'm open to it if the buzz is good. Otherwise, probably not.
Ewan McGregor directs and stars in the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel about a middle class man whose life blows up thanks to his rebellious teenage daughter in 1968.
Working For It: I'm curious to see McGregor's directorial debut. He's surrounded himself with a nice cast including Jennifer Connelly (wife), Dakota Fanning (daughter), Uzo Aduba, and Molly Parker. This is the rare acclaimed novel that I've actually read before, so the ability to examine it as an adaptation is enticing as well.
Working Against It: This is a tricky story to translate to film with the right tone. Directing debuts for actors go poorly about as often as they go well (if not more so) so I worry about this.
Verdict: Unless reviews are awful, I'll be looking for it.
In the wild west, a town of thugs tries to take down a mysterious stranger (Ethan Hawke) and they find themselves outmatched.
Working For It: It's a Blumhouse production. While they occasionally do, non-horror, it's notable whenever they don't. The director is known for making horror movies though and has a V/H/S credit to his name (always a plus). It's a fun cast assembled. In addition to Hawke, there's John Travolta, Karen Gillan, Taissa Farmga, Toby Huss, and James Ransone. Basically, this appears to be a Wild West First Blood with more humor. I can get behind that.
Working Against It: A lot of BlumHouse movies begin with a "wouldn't this be cool?" idea. Some turn out great (The Gift, Creep, Oculus). Others wear themselves out quickly (The Lazarus Effect, The Purge). It's hard to tell where this will land.
Verdict: I'm in no hurry but I am interested.
The coming of age story of a gay black man who tries to find his place in the world, growing up in a rough Miami neighborhood.
Working For It: The festival circuit has been going crazy for this film over the last month. It's looking like a strong Oscar contender and not just as a response to the #OscarSoWhite controversy. It's full of a lot of familiar faces, not familiar names, other than maybe Naomie Harris.
Working Against It: Despite all the adulation I've been hearing for it, I don't really know what it's about. It's told in three parts, when the central character, Kevin, is 9, 16, and 20-something. That's about all I know.
Verdict: It's very likely that I see it.
10/28
Tom Hanks is back for another Robert Langdon movie, this time fighting amnesia and a lethal global virus with Felicity Jones at his side.
Working For It: Ron Howard is still behind the camera. While that's not a guarantee of high quality (In the Heart of the Sea), it's telling any time a director stays with a franchise through three installments. It doesn't get better than Tom Hanks as far as I'm concerned. Like Hanks, Felicity Jones could be used better in something else, but I'll watch her in just about anything.
Working Against It: The Da Vinci Code was fine. Angels & Demons was entirely forgettable (Honestly, I remember something about priests and that's it). I have no desire for another installment. They are nicely stand-alone and fine. That's all the excitement I can muster.
Verdict: Maybe, leaning toward no.
No comments:
Post a Comment