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2015
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2013
8/4
The long awaited adaptation of the popular Stephen King book series about a gunslinger from another world battling the evil Man in Black to save Earth and their home world.
Working For It: I haven't read the books, but how much other people like them has me thinking there's a solid story to be excited about. The big selling point for me is that Idris Elba finally gets a lead role in a major Hollywood movie. It's about damn time. The Man in Black seems like a role that Matthew McConaughey will have a lot of fun with. The supporting cast has some interesting names like Abbey Lee, Katheryn Winnick (who I've always heard is great in Vikings), and Dennis Haysbert
Working Against It: Even just in the trailer, I want the kid at the center of the movie to get out of the way so the grown ups can talk. Hopefully his isn't a major inconvenience throughout. Also, I'm sure the Dannish film A Royal Affair was good (It had Alivia Vikander and Mads Mikkelsen after all), but Nikolaj Arcel's filmography doesn't make me excited that he's directing a movie like The Dark Tower.
My Position: I'm not at all excited for this. I don't know if that's a minority or majority opinion. This looks like another Golden Compass. The trailers look like a book adaptation without any inspiration to it. I'll be looking for a reason not to see it, but I'd like for it to be good.
Hally Berry's is a mother with a kidnapped son who decides to fight back when the police can't help her.
Working For It: Halle Berry is an Oscar winner who just hasn't been given a lot of opportunities lately. The Call a couple years ago seemed fine. Maybe this is another mid-level thriller like that.
Working Against It: The trailer makes this look like a parody of itself, filled with a lot of overacting and clunky lines. The screenwriter's claim to fame is as a producer for Jackass movies, so maybe this is meant all as a joke. I doubt it, but that would make the movie much more interesting.
My Position: It's going to take a lot to convince me that this is any good.
Katheryn Bigelow helms a film about the 1967 Detroit rights that sparked after race relations between the police and African American residents hit a break point.
Working For It: Bigelow's last two films were pretty great (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker). If nothing else, I'll be watching this because of her. The cast, including John Boyega, Will Poulter, Anthony Mackie, and John Krasinski, is a large ensemble. I know it will be hard, but try and find a way to relate this story to anything going on in the world now.
Working Against It: This does strike me as a movie that could collapse under the weight of its own ambition. It's unlikely, but it has the makeup of a film that could happen to. Large ensemble. Based on a historical event. Political...this could be Bobby.
My Position: It's made up of too many individual pieces that I like for me to miss it.
Two high school rejects fall in love in high school and get tested when both go through a change in circumstance and location in college.
Working For It: Thomas Mann is the boy with an eye patch in high school and gets a prosthetic eye in college. Lily Mae Harrington is the girl who is fat in high school and loses weight in college. I don't know Harrington from anything, but Mann has certainly impressed me in a Sundance movie before (Me & Earl & The Dying Girl). If I see this, it's pretty much because of him.
Working Against It: Unproven writer/director. I don't remember hearing any buzz about it after Sundance. The story sounds like that unnuanced "bullys vs. rejects" view of high school which is pretty lazy these days.
My Position: I'm pretty bored by everything about this except Mann.
A documentary about a Baltimore high school girls Step team.
Working For It: I like documentaries, especially ones about worlds or experiences I don't know much about.
Working Against It: The trailer makes this look like it was edited to fit the documentarian's plan going in rather than let the story evolve naturally. I could be wrong, but the trailer sure is boxing a lot of the girls into story lines about how hard it is to get out of their present situations. Let me guess, some of them get into college and break free of the projects while other get sucked back in by drugs, or money, and pregnancy.
My Position: Nothing about this intrigues me enough to seek it out.
Elizabeth Olsen is an FBI agent working with Jeremy Renner to catch a killer in Wyoming.
Working For It: Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner are a great starting point. What excites me just as much is that it's from writer/director Taylor Sheridan. Sheridan's script for Hell or High Water impressed the hell out of me last year. He wrote Sicario too.
Working Against It: Sheridan is a little less proven as a director. The trailer makes this look like any other federal and local law enforcement team-up to investigate a crime: a surprisingly common premise. Granted, I could not have been less enthused about Hell or High Water when I first heard about it. Some films don't lend themselves to trailers very well.
My Position: I was so dead wrong about Hell or High Water that on principle, I wouldn't dare miss this.
8/11
This tells the story of how Annabelle came to be. It involves a dead daughter, a demon, and a girls orphanage.
Working For It: David F. Sandberg directed a very competent horror movie last year (Lights Out). I'm not very familiar with the cast beyond Anthony LaPaglia, although that's not necessarily a detriment to a horror movie.
Working Against It: So, is the idea to keep going back in the Conjuring franchise until it gets to patient zero? With each sequel or spin-off, the quality of the cast and creative team has gotten worse. That worries me. And I'm not a big fan of studio jump-scare horror movies to begin with.
My Position: The first Annabelle movie was too underwhelming for me to give this a chance.
Brie Larson is a journalist who confronts her dysfunctional childhood of poverty which was the result of her parents' erratic behavior.
Working For It: Brie Larson is the daughter. Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts are the parents. Larson is reuniting with her Short Term 12 director. These are all good things.
Working Against It: The dad sounds an awful lot like a less extreme Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic, which I didn't care for that much.
My Position: The cast, director, and Oscar hopes will get me to see this despite a topic that doesn't appeal to me that much.
Some mice are called in to help the squirrels and bunnies save a park.
Working For It: I had to triple check to see if I'd seen the first movie. I'm still not convinced that I haven't, although that is entirely because it looks exactly like Over the Hedge. That said, Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Maya Rudolph, and Jackie Chan is the kind of voice cast I'd expect for an animated film produced by an animation studio I'm unfamiliar with and released by Open Road Films.
Working Against It: With the addition of Jackie Chan as a mouse who knows martial arts, this looks like a mix of Over the Hedge and Kung-fu Panda that pulls the best parts of neither.
My Position: This looks like a cheap sequel to a cheap imitation. That's a bad lineage.
A new app with supernatural powers terrorizes a group of students.
Working For It: Sometimes I hate having these Working For and Against sections, because I've got nothing for this. I'm a horror fan, so...maybe that's enough...
Working Against It: Look, The Ring only barely makes sense and it's with analog technology. The idea of a similar curse going digital is just too implausible to fathom. It sounds like this movie is trying for social commentary. I don't see how it could pull it off successfully.
My Position: There's a lot of horror movies I'm happy to ignore.
Aubrey Plaza plays a woman who insinuates herself into the life of an Instagram star played by Elizabeth Olsen.
Working For It: I'm a big fan of both Plaza and Olsen. There was a lot of buzz about this out of Sundance. It has O'Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton) and Wyatt Russell (22 Jump Street, Everybody Wants Some!!) too.
Working Against It: I'm still not really sure what the tone of it is. Is it supposed to be an ironic comedy or a dark comedy? Comedy of discomfort? Perhaps one of those comedies that isn't actually a comedy but it has a bunch of people associated with comedies in it and maybe three real jokes so people label it that way? Being a Sundance premiere, it's probably that last category which ends up being a mixed bag.
My Position: I'm definitely seeing this at some point, although I don't feel any urgency to see it in theaters.
A recent college graduate becomes infatuated with his father's mistress.
Working For It: This is one of those weird movies in which I'm excited by everyone in the cast except the lead. I've seen Callum Turner in at least Green Room, although I couldn't pick him out of a lineup. However, he's surrounded by Pierce Brosnan (his father), Cynthia Nixon (his mother), Kate Beckinsale (his father's mistress), Jeff Bridges (his mentor, I guess), and Kiersey Clemons (his friend/love interest).
Working Against It: Director Marc Webb spent all his (500) Days of Summer goodwill on two mediocre-to-bad Spider-Man movies, so I can't call him a plus going in. The screenwriter (Allan Loeb) doesn't have encouraging credits either. I've seen many of his films (The Space Between Us, Here Comes the Boom, Rock of Ages, Just Go With It). His only encouraging credit is one of his first, 2007's 21, which still wasn't great.
My Position: Something about that lead character, just in the trailer, annoys the hell out of me. I'm going to need to hear a strong show of support for the film to bother with it.
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon go on a road trip to Spain, full of great conversation and food.
Working For It: This is the third in a trilogy (so far) with the same basic structure. Coogan and Brydon have meals and amusing, sometime poignant conversations. That's it. They play themselves or versions of themselves. I've actually been meaning to catch up on these movies, because I've become a fan of "conversation movies" like this in recent years.
Working Against It: I assume that if you don't like British humor, that could be a problem. I do, for the most part, though. Also, some people need more than a couple guys talking for 2 hours to make a movie worthwhile.
My Position: I'd like to see this, but only if I've caught up on the others first, which I'm doubtful will happen before it comes out in theaters.
8/18
Ryan Reynolds is a bodyguard in charge of protecting Samuel L. Jackson, who is a hit-man who has tried to kill Reynolds many times before.
Working For It: This is essentially a buddy-cop movie with Reynold and Jackson, who are an entertaining duo. Gary Oldman as the villain sounds right. Salma Hayek's in it too. For a mid-level action movie, you could do much, much worse.
Working Against It: I don't recognize the writer or director from much. That gives me some pause. Personalities normally drive movies like this, but that only works if the script has something going for it and the director doesn't let the stars steamroll him. And it's not like Reynolds, Jackson, or Oldman are known for avoiding bad roles. Factor that into a late August release and that's a cause for concern.
My Position: I'm really rooting for this movie, because, if done right, this is the kind of movie I really response to (see The Nice Guys).
Adam Driver and Channing Tatum are dim-witted brothers pulling off a heist at a NASCAR speedway.
Working For It: It's Southern Ocean's Eleven, down to having the same director (Steven Soderbergh). Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Katherine Waterston, Sebastian Stan, Katie Holmes, Daniel Craig, Seth McFarlane, Hilary Swank. The man knows how to put together an ensemble. Just about everyone looks like they are having fun with their roles, especially Daniel Craig. If this has even half the charm of Ocean's Eleven, I won't miss it.
Working Against It: My one big concern is how much of this is going to be lazy Southern humor. I sure hope it has punchlines that I haven't already seen in Talladega Nights.
My Position: Given the release date, it looks like a lock for me.
Two Korean men running a shoe story in L.A. during the Rodney King riots bond with a young African-American girl.
Working For It: This is the year of Rodney King riot films. I really do need to see one of the many documentaries that came out about it. This could be a "fun" companion piece with one of those.
Working Against It: I haven't seen any of those documentaries yet despite some being readily available, so perhaps my interest in the L.A. riots isn't that high. There's really no one in the cast I'm that curious about either.
My Position: I assume I'll never see this nor even look for it after today.
Brett Gelman is an awkward guy who is trying to restart his life.
Working For It: This has one of those great "call in all the favors you have" casts. Brett Gelman, Judy Greer, Michael Cera, Gillian Jacobs, Jeff Garlin, Megan Mullally, Shiri Appleby, Nia Long, Rhea Perlman, Fred Melamed, Martin Star. This is a great cast for a first time feature director, Janicza Bravo, who also directed the Juneteenth episode of Atlanta.
Working Against It: Despite the many things I've seen him in, I'm not sure I'm ready for Brett Gelman as a lead. His awkward energy is tailor-made for supporting roles. The trailer doesn't look like it's shifting his performance enough to be palatable as a lead performance. I'm getting kind of tired of movies about comically clueless/weird guys who successfully stumble through life, or at least this flavor of that kind of story.
My Position: I don't know that I need to see a slightly more mature Napoleon Dynamite.
8/25
John Corbett is a pastor who puts refugees to work on a farm in order to save their church.
Working For It: I really do think one of these Christian-themed films will hit big one of these days. Passion of the Christ convinced me the there's an untapped market waiting. This is being released by Sony, not Pureflix as I originally assumed, which means it might get some advertising to be a success.
Working Against It: Dress it up all you want, but this is a movie in which a church is saved by having refugees working on a farm. That is a tough, tough sell. And the casting is only a step above calling in Kirk Cameron.
My Position: Well, the trailer summarizes the film to the point that there's no hope of there being more to it. That crushed the little curiosity I had to begin with.
A retelling of Bruce Lee's early years in San Francisco, shot in the style of the films Lee is famous for.
Working For It: This looks like it does a good job recreating the style of Lee's films. And, look, most of what WWE Studios produces is bad, but I can't ignore that The Rundown and Oculus are two of theirs.
Working Against It: Much, much more of the WWE Studios co-productions aren't great.
My Position: Sorry, I already saw Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. No need to see it again.
The story of a black man who was sent to prison in the 80s for a murder he didn't commit.
Working For It: I'm sucker for anything that is well-received at Sundance (this won the Audience award). Between Get Out and Atlanta, I'm quickly becoming a fan of Lakeith Stanfield, the lead of this film. He's joined by people like his Atlanta co-star Brian Tyree Henry and Bill Camp, who recently proved in The Night Of that he's a great addition to any prison/crime drama.
Working Against It: I'm a little nervous about how unfamiliar with the writer/director I am. It wouldn't take much for this to move into histrionics. I'd prefer this type of story as a series rather than a film.
My Position: I'd like to hear more buzz about it leading up to its release.
A regular guy is mistaken for a super-spy.
Working For It: Similar to my thoughts on Christian films, I feel like we're bound to have an Indian film hit big at some point. This is an unrelated sequel (whatever that means) to an Indian remake of Knight & Day. It looks like a lot of money was sunk into this. The trailer is lively and funny. I'm more interested in this than I would've thought.
Working Against It: If I'm going to commit to seeing a movie with subtitles, I'd like more of an assurance that it will be worth it. If this is just the Indian equivalent to Killers, why bother?
My Position: I'm probably not going to see this, but if late August really is as dead as it looks, then I'd consider it.
A teenager finds a haunted Polaroid camera that kills the people in the pictures taken with it.
Working For It: It's sounds like The Ring meets Final Destination aimed at a demographic who is too young to even like Polaroid cameras ironically. Speaking as someone who made it a priority to see Unfriended and Project Almanac in theaters, I don't have a lot of high ground to say this looks bad.
Working Against It: I don't recognize any of the cast. First-time feature film director. Writer whose main credits come from G4 shows. This may dip under even my threshold. And I can't take a haunted polaroid camera seriously.
My Position: Nope, nope, nope.
Here's what I said about it in February.
A painter starts having an affair with a married woman in the 17th century.My Position: They keep delaying the release, which is annoying because I really want to see this.
Working For It: The painter: Dane DeHaan. The married woman: Alicia Vikander. Her husband: Christoph Waltz. Also in the movie: Judi Dench, Cara Delevingne, Jack O'Connell, Holliday Granger, and Zach Galifianakis. The script: written by Tom Stoppard. If that's not enough to get you excited, then I don't know what to tell you.
Working Against It: Again, the release for this was delayed. Look, I know movies jump around in the schedule all the time, but this is excessive for so many to land on one month. This seems like a peculiar time to release this, unless it's going for a Love & Friendship strategy of appealing to the art house crowd without bothering for Oscars.
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