2017
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2016
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2015
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2016
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2015
2014
2013
1/5
Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) returns to investigate a
haunted house.
Working For It: I enjoyed the first two Insidious
movies well enough, although the Rose Byrne factor played heavily into that. As
far as major studio PG-13 horror movies go, you could do a lot worse.
Working Against It: As if I didn't have enough
trouble keeping the two franchises straight already, Insidious has moved
fully into being a Conjuring rip-off now. And if it's at the point where
they are bringing back Lin Shaye to maintain continuity, they should just write
an original movie.
My Position: I missed the third movie and had only a
moderate opinion of the first two. Pass!
1/12
Liam Nesson gets blackmailed on a commuter train to
do something awful.
Working For It: Remember a decade ago how great and
surprising Taken was? I've been chasing that high for a while now.
Working Against It: This is Non-Stop on a
train. From the same director, even. I hated Non-Stop. I have every
reason to think I'll hate this.
My Position: Perhaps The Shallows or the
upcoming Jungle Cruise movie will win me over with this director, but he
needs some rehabilitation in my eyes before I give him the benefit of the doubt.
Animated film about an anthropomorphic condor who,
uh, plays soccer, I guess.
Working For It: It's nice to see some foreign
animation companies trying to break into the market.
Working Against It: Full disclosure - the only
trailers I found were in Spanish, no subtitles. I'm pretty sure the release
will be in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish. I'm not sure what it's about or if
it's even clever. Based on the animation, I don't assume it's very clever. This
is based on a famous Chilean comic strip. I hope the movie does well in Chile.
My Position: Even if it was in English, I'd have
about as much desire to see this as Norm of the North. Hint: That's not
very much.
Paddington works odd jobs to buy a birthday present
for his aunt and eventually ends up in jail.
Working For It: The first Paddington was
charming and inoffensive. A lot of good British actors like Sally Hawkins, Hugh
Bonneville, and Hugh Grant signed on. I can think of many movies I'm looking
forward to less.
Working Against It: 'Inoffensive' is a low bar to
set. The humor is intentionally juvenile as is the target audience.
My Position: There's no reason to make this one a
priority.
Taraji P. Henson is Leon: The Professional.
Working For It: Henson is a great actress, and she's
good enough on Empire for her to deserve a shot as a movie badass.
Working Against It: It's hard to judge this until
[unless] I actually see it. The visuals of the badass assassin are easy. Look
emotionless the whole time. Dress is something fancy but simple. Have all you
weapons in a drawer with neat foam cut to fit them. That's all empty calorie; a
cheap imitation if the actual fighting doesn't end up being any good. Nothing
in the trailer makes the action look all that special. Then again, the same
could be said about the John Wick trailer.
My Position: This looks way too much like style over
substance. I'll wait.
An aging visual artist, still looking for acceptance
in the art world, attempts to find inspiration while housesitting away from the
city.
Working For It: It's got Lena Dunham in a supporting
role, so, maybe it's like a 40 years later Tiny Funiture.
Working Against It: Well, the writer/director/star
is Lena Dunham's mother, which makes getting Lena on board much less
impressive. Frankly, I don't need to see another movie about a city person going
to a small town and being charmed by the simple folk living there.
My Position: The official trailer has less than 3000
views. I'm more likely to forget about it before I ever get a chance to not see
it.
1/19
The story of the first 12 soldiers sent to
Afghanistan after 9/11.
Working For It: I know what you are thinking: Is 12
Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers the sequel to 13
Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. First of all, check the time lines
and the numbers. This would be a prequel. Surprisingly enough, there is no
overlap between 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers
and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Different directors,
writers, actors, producers, production companies, and distribution studios
(Paramount and Warner Brothers). 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of
the Horse Soldiers and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi are
based on books written by different people. Oh, here we go. It looks like ILM
handled some special effects for both. I think that's enough to say they're
part of the same cinematic universe. In all seriousness, 12 Strong: The
Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers assembled an impressive cast
with Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, and Michael Pena among others.
Working Against It: I'm pretty militaried out,
especially modern military. If it's a true story and everyone involved is still
alive to fact check it, I'm not interested. Either the film will be
sensationalized and feel insincere or it will be accurate and dull.
My Position: Michael Pena does make everything
better, but that won't be enough.
A special ops L.A. police force tries to stop an
elite criminal crew trying to rob the Federal Reserve,
Working For It: You kind of have to respect a movie
that's so transparently what it is. There's no pretending that this is anything
but an over the top crime movie with a moderate budget. This kind of thing has
become Gerard Butler's specialty. Surrounding him with a cast with the likes of
50 Cent, O'Shea Jackson Jr., and Pablo Shcreiber sounds right.
Working Against It: This isn't a genre that I really
enjoy mediocre examples of. This doesn't look like it's aiming any higher than
middling.
My Position: I have no time for 'middling'.
A country singer comes back home after 8 years to
realize that he has a daughter with the woman he left behind.
Working For It: I'm not going to lie. The trailer
was pretty charming. The leads (Alex Roe and Jessica Rothe) seem blandly
appealing. The precocious kid doesn't have enough time in that trailer to be
annoying. The story is pretty simple.
Working Against It: Let's ignore the fact that the
trailer gives too much of the movie away. This looks like someone's
approximation of a Nicholas Sparks movie. It's probably more Hope Floats
than anything, but as long as we live in a post-The Notebook world and
until someone usurps him, Sparks is the go-to face of the genre.
My Position: Maybe if he wasn't a country singer.
A documentary covering Obama's last year in office,
shot from within.
Working For It: I'm intrigued by the level of access
the filmmaker apparently had. And, I have a general curiosity about how things
work in the White House.
Working Against It: My rule of thumb is that the
more years between politics and movies about them, the better. This is still
too fresh.
My Position: I'll wait a couple years then see how I
feel.
An elderly couple goes to visit Hemmingway's home in
their RV.
Working For It: Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland
don't lead as many movies as they used to. They certainly deserve their own On Golden Pond, don't they?
Working Against It: I'm just not that interested in
a movie about Sutherland losing his mind because of old age.
My Position: Its only hope was that it might sneak
in as an awards contender. If it couldn't sneak more than a single Golden Globe
nomination, that's a bad sign.
1/26
The Maze Runner gang looks for a cure to the disease plaguing the world.
Working For It: I've seen the first two Maze Runners. They have assembled a nice young cast (Dylan O'Brien, Rosa
Salazar, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kaya Scodelario, Nathalie Emmanuel, Katherine
McNamara). A nice older cast too (Patricia Clarkson, Aiden Gillen, Giancarlo
Esposito, Walton Goggins).
Working Against It: Maze Runner never became The Hunger Games. It didn't fall apart like Divergent. It got further
than The Fifth Wave, The Host, or The Mortal Instruments.
At this point, I forgot about nearly every plot point from the first two movies
other than the maze itself. It's limping to the end, but it is getting there.
My Position: I've seen the first two. Might as well.
If I hadn't, it wouldn't be worth catching up for.
A family on a camping trip is terrorized by a
mysterious man.
Working For It: It's a simple premise. Horror can be
made well for cheap. If I'm in the right mood, this could be pretty good.
Working Against It: I don't recognize anyone involved,
so I have nothing to go off.
My Position: I'll keep it in mind the next time I go
on a horror binge.
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