(Note: I'm a week behind on getting this out. Sorry.
I have no excuse. I just got behind)
2018
3/2
A ballerina becomes a Russian spy after witnessing
something she shouldn't've.
Working For It: Based on the advertising, this is either a Black Widow
ripoff, a reason to ogle Jennifer Lawrence for two hours, or both. From what I
hear, it's not really either of those and is more of a spy thriller.
Regardless, I'm intrigued and favorable toward Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Jeremy
Irons, and the rest of the cast.
Working Against It: I get worried about any movie that willfully deceives
the audience with the advertising. It seems like some of the more recent
trailers are being a bit more honest, but it makes me wonder what they are
trying to hide.
My Stance: I'm genuinely intrigued to see what the movie is (I'm
getting a The Accountant vibe
with less action), but if all I get out of it in the end is ogling Jennifer
Lawrence for two hours, I suppose there's worse things to get out of a movie.
A man becomes a street vigilante after his wife is
killed and daughter is attacked.
Working For It: This is a natural fit for Bruce Willis and makes sense
for director Eli Roth, who has always had an exploitation streak to him.
Working Against It: I don't think Death Wish is a franchise that
should've left the 70s (and 80s). It's why you won't see a new Dirty Harry
anytime soon. People love vigilante movies though. That's what any superhero
movie is, after all. Even things like Boondock Saints and Taken
have an appeal. Death Wish isn't a good shade of it. Not from what I've
seen in the trailers. It looks too much like a Taken rip-off.
My Stance: I like Bruce Willis, but I can't generate any interest
in this.
A professor becomes entangled with one of his
writing students, maybe having an affair, maybe not.
Working For It: Stanley Tucci is the professor. Addison Timlin is the
student. I like Tucci and he doesn't get a lot of lead roles. I mostly know
Timlin from shows and movies like Californication or That Awkward
Moment that cast her as "the hot girl". I'm curious to see what
she can do with a meatier role. The Disclosure-esque angle has been done
to death, but when done right, it can still be pretty entertaining.
Working Against It: It really has been done to death. It's going to be hard
to find a new angle. I don't know any of writer/director Richard Levine's work either.
My Stance: I'm not avoiding the movie. I'm just not putting in any
effort to see it.
3/9
A black comedy about a businessman being chased by
the cartel for his company's new marijuana pill.
Working For It: I'm pretty floored by this cast for such an oddball
comedy. Joel Edgerton makes sense because his brother is the director. It's
also got Charlize Theron, David Oyelowo, Thandie Newton, Amanda Seyfried,
Sharlto Copley, and a bunch of other familiar faces. If this movie is really as
wild and darkly comedic as it looks, then I'm all on board.
Working Against It: There is a brand of dark comedy that's so proud of how
inappropriate it's being that it forgets to craft any jokes. It wouldn't take
much for this movie to end up one of those.
My Stance: I'm willing to risk it. The upside is very high.
...the title says it all.
Working For It: Toby Kebbell was really good in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I'm
not sure Maggie Grace has ever been really good in anything, but I''ve liked
her since LOST. There's a part of me that enjoys dumb action movies that
could find this entertaining.
Working Against It: I could get into the ridiculous premise and questionable
staging of the action, just from the trailer. I'd rather just look to this
incredibly annoying ad campaign. Whoever thought it was a good idea to keep
looping "Here I am" several times before getting to "Rock you
like a hurricane" should be fired. Even in a 30 second TV spot it's annoying.
My Stance: They keep advertising that it's from the director of The Fast and the Furious. Let's remember that
there's a reason he didn't come back to direct more of them, when they became
really successful. Hard pass.
A family visiting a secluded mobile home is
terrorized by masked people.
Working For It: Apparently, The Strangers is a series. I guess
there's no reason it shouldn't be, since it's become a shorthand for "home
invasion movie". They got Christina Hendricks on board for this one.
That's nice. This is the first I've heard of Bailee Madison since Trophy
Wife. I dunno. It could be fun.
Working Against It: I haven't seen any of the writer or the director's work.
The downside with horror sequels is that they normally rely on using the same
tricks as previous installments for diminished returns.
My Stance: Home invasion isn't my kind of horror.
A girl is sent through time and space to find her
missing scientist father.
Working For It: They assembled the holy trinity of Oprah, Reese
Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling. Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Chris Pine are the parents.
I'll try not to hold Zach Galifianakis against it (I do like him more as a
performer when he isn't essentially playing himself). Apparently, Michael Pena
is in this and, as a rule, with no exceptions, he makes everything better. I
guess there's some kids in the cast too. I'm really curious to see what Ava
DuVernay does with a big budget movie like this.
Working Against It: Look, DuVernay is a terrific filmmaker. I'm glad she's
being given this opportunity. I do think it's fair to be a little nervous about
if she can pull off this kind of film. I'm very optimistic but not yet
convinced.
My Stance: There's no chance I'm missing this.
Two suburban teenage girls come up with a plan to
kill one of the girls' stepfather.
Working For It: Olivia Cooke was great in Me & Earl & The Dying Girl and Bates Motel.
Anya Taylor-Joy was great in The Witch. I believe this is Anton
Yelchin's final movie. It's one of those darkly comedic takes on suburban life
that are pretty common but easy to mine for jokes.
Working Against It: First time writer/director. Yelchin died in summer 2016,
which means this has been in the can for a while. I'm curious what the delay has
been.
My Stance: This looks right up my alley. I will be hunting it down
eventually.
3/16
The story of how the song "I Can Only
Imagine" was written.
Working For It: Remember that Christian Contemporary song that got kind
of popular in 2003? If you do and you liked the song, I suppose you'd be
interested to know how it came about. They got Dennis Quaid for the movie,
which is nice.
Working Against It: I don't particularly care about the song. I'm not that
convinced that the story behind the song is worth an entire movie. The cast
doesn't excite me. The directors aren't responsible for any movies I've wanted
to see.
My Stance: I'm going to be generous and say that I'm
just not the target audience for this.
Simon is a closeted teen looking for his own love
story.
Working For It: I don't know which is more surprising: that this isn't
based on a John Green novel or that John Green already has a clear niche genre
of movies (like Nicholas Sparks movies in the romance genre). It looks like the
kind of coming-of-age high school movie that I eat up. The cast isn't A-list,
but you could do a lot worse than Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Garner, and half the
cast of 13 Reasons Why in the supporting cast.
Working Against It: There are parts of this that seem oddly conservative.
After seeing recent high school movies like The Edge of Seventeen, The Spectacular Now, and Lady Bird go for R-ratings, Love, Simon keeping the PG-13 feels quaint. I'm also
not sure what to make of how vanilla the whole thing looks. I suppose it's nice
that a story about someone coming out looks about as safe as I Love You Beth
Cooper or Easy A.
My Stance: The only thing working against it is that the week it
comes out, I'll have a hard enough time sneaking in even one movie, and this is
my clear second choice.
Lara Croft goes on an adventure to track down her
missing father and begins her life as the Tomb Raider we all know and love.
Working For It: Similar to the first Tomb Raider movie, this will
rely on the strength of its Oscar-winning lead. Alicia Vikander is the reason
to see the movie. The trailer has gone a long way to making me believe that
Vikander can pull off the physicality of the role. The focus this time does
seem to be more about making a female Indiana Jones than the male-gazey 2001
Angelina Jolie movie. Walton Goggins, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Dominic West in
supporting roles is a sign that they tried casting for fit more than star
power, which is reassuring.
Working Against It: This strikes me as more of a studio gamble than an A+
effort. The Norwegian director is new to American audiences. The writers are
mostly anonymous. I can't find a production budget for the movie, but I expect
it's closer to Geostorm than Justice League. Alicia Vikander isn't a
star yet, per se. She certainly can carry a big franchise, but she isn't
a proven draw. What I'm trying to say is there's no evidence that this won't be
another Fantastic Four.
My Stance: I'm seeing it, because if this is the moment when Alicia
Vikander really blows up, I don't want to miss it.
The story of the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight.
Working For It: I'm intrigued by Rosamund Pike and Daniel Bruhl as two
of the hijackers. There's potential for the delicate diplomatic maneuvering
that made me love Eye in the Sky. I know nothing about the
actual event, so learning about that could be interesting.
Working Against It: This sure looks like it's picking pieces of
Argo, Munich, Eye in
the Sky, and a few other similar films and trying to make something new out
of it. Whatever this movie is trying to be, I'm pretty sure there's better
versions of it available.
My Stance: Life's too short.
A 17 year old goes after a teacher she thinks
molested her step brother.
Working For It: That description makes this sound much more severe than
I think it is. The 17 year old is Zoey Deutch who I've been trying to figure
out for the last two years. The teacher is Adam Scott. One of Deutch's friends
is Dylan Gelula (Xan from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). Deutch's mom is
Katherine Hahn. This is much more of a quirky indie comedy vibe than a serious
drama. I can get behind that. The director is a journeyman TV director who
should make this jump easily enough.
Working Against It: Am I the only one who has trouble buying Deutch as a
high schooler? She was probably 22 or 23 when she made the movie and
technically looks youthful enough to pass for high school. I just don't think
she carries herself right for it. She seems more at ease around people a bit to
significantly older than her. I'm not sure how that will play in her
interations with Adam Scott in this. It could be great.
My Stance: Apparently, I'm going to keep tracking down all of
Deutch's movies, so I'll be getting to this eventually. I'm in no hurry though.
3/23
A girls who is allergic to the sun falls for a boy.
Working For It: It could be a simple, safe high school romance movie that
isn't targeted to me even a little.
Working Against It: I haven't seen Bella Thorne in anything yet that's
convinced me she's worth keeping track of. Same with Patrick Schwarzenegger. No
one else in the cast excites me either. I've seen this movie before a dozen
different ways. Even when I was that age, I spent most of my time complaining
about how stupid these kids are being.
My Stance: No chance.
The kaiju are back for a new generation.
Working For It: Swapping out Charlie Hunnam for John Boyega is at worst
a lateral move. It's hard to get the formula for this wrong: giant robots
fighting giant monsters. You have my attention. Charlie Day was one of my
favorite parts of the first movie, so bringing him back is nice.
Working Against It: The first movie essentially broke even (actually, it
lost money if you look at the basic numbers) and existed because studios keep
thinking that Guillermo del Toro is destined to have a Lord of the Rings-sized
hit one day with his mix of talent, enthusiasm, and non-pretentiousness. That
movie was so much fun because del Toro kept the central story simple and did
exceptional work of building the world on the margins. Del Toro isn't directing
this, and without his attention to detail, the magic of this could easily be
lost. It could be similar to the difference between the two Independence Day
movies. No Idris Elba is a bummer as well.
My Stance: Good luck keeping me out of the theater opening weekend.
I am worried though.
A man hunts down Paul to collect his stories.
Working For It: I may not care much for Pure Flix's movies*, but I won't
deny them an Easter release. The story of Paul is a little under-covered when
compared to other biblical stories. If memory serves, the last time Jim
Caviezel made a biblical movie, it did pretty well.
Working Against It: To the surprise of no one, the casting goes out of its
way to use anything buy Middle-Eastern actors. At least the actor playing the
Romans mostly have Italian-sounding names. If I actually thought this movie had
anything daring to say about the Paul story, I might want to check it out.
Alas, Pure Flix's aim has always been more about satisfying its under-served
niche market than try to find broader appeal.
My Stance: I'd have to have an awful lot of free time.
*In their defense, I'm basing my thoughts on reputation.
I haven't seen any of their movies. I could be wrong about them.
Gnomeo and Juliet call on Sherlock to solve a gnome
mystery.
Working For It: The voice cast has a charming mix of British actors who
I wouldn't mind seeing in a live-action movie (Emily Blunt, James McAvoy,
Maggie Smith, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine). A couple Americans too (Johnny
Depp, Mary J. Blige).
Working Against It: It's hard to find a movie I have less of a feeling about
than Gnomeo & Juliet. It
was fine but mostly forgettable. I assume the same goes with this sequel that
no one was really clamoring for.
My Stance: No hurry.
A woman who thinks she's being stalked gets
committed to a mental institution.
Working For It: This kind of thriller is comfortably in Steven
Soderbergh's wheelhouse. It'll be nice to see Claire Foy not in a period
setting for a change.
Working Against It: Logan Lucky has me rethinking how much I want Soderbergh to stay in his comfort zone. That
movie was fine, but it kept me thinking about the times he's done it better.
What are the odds that I watch Unsane and spend most of it thinking
about how much better Side Effects was?
My Stance: Very likely to see this.
Dogs help a boy find his missing dog.
Working For It: I'm not a Wes Anderson disciple. I'm not really a fan
even. I do admit that he's good at what he does though. The voice cast he's
assembled is so large that I won't even begin to list them all. It's a
formidable group. I'm sure there will be some good laughs and won't be like
anything else I'll see this year.
Working Against It: I'm so annoyed that this got delayed from sometime on
the Fall 2017 to March 2018, because it's meant three more months of seeing
this trailer nearly every time I go to my local theater. I'm sick of it. Also,
Wes Anderson's style really rubs me the wrong way, but mostly, I'm sick of the
trailer.
My Stance: The Lone Ranger Rule* dictates that I must see it.
*The Lone Ranger Rule - If I've seen the trailer for a movie enough times that the combined length would qualify as a feature film, then I might as well see the movie when it comes out.
3/30
A boy battles a major corporation for control the
the virtual world, known as the Oasis.
Working For It: I am so excited for all the arguments I'll hear about
this movie. There's people who read the book and are determined to hate the
movie, people who didn't care for the book who are determined to hate the
movie, people keeping an open mind regardless, people who feel like railing
against Stephen Spielberg in general, people who just don't think Spielberg is
right for this movie, people who are having nostalgia fatigue, and many, many
others. I predict it'll be the kind of movie that most people like but won't be
able to help themselves from picking it apart (I'll probably be in that camp).
People seem to have so much invested in this beyond the movie itself, which
will make the conversation around it pretty infuriating. I think the trailers
have looked great. Spielberg might not be ideal for this, but even a moderate
Spielberg effort is better than 90% of the movies I'll see. The cast looks
eclectic and fun, not centered around an A-list star.
Working Against It: I haven't read the book. From what I've gathered though,
it may turn out to be difficult to recreate the appeal for the screen.
My Stance: This is the one movie this month I absolutely refuse to
miss.
A woman gets back at the husband who she finds out
has been cheating on her.
Working For It: Taraji P. Henson as an affluent woman with an attitude.
I know, it's hard to imagine her making that kind of role work, right? The
trailer hints at there being more to this story, like maybe a big twist or two.
It looks like a genre movie that isn't trying to be more than that, which I
appreciate.
Working Against It: This is a Tyler Perry movie and it's being advertised
like a ScreenGems movie. Perry never really went away, but he does fill up less
space in the public consciousness these days. Acrimony looks like an
attempt to pivot into something a little different for him. I haven't like a
Tyler Perry movie yet. I doubt that's going to change with Acrimony.
My Stance: With or without the Tyler Perry connection, this is a
pretty strong 'no' in my book.
A man rebuids his church on a college campus after
it's been burned down.
Working For It: Might as well complete the God's Not Dead
Trilogy. Granted, I'd need to see all of the first two movies first.
Working Against It: OK, now these movies are starting to get on my nerves.
The first God's Not Dead was perfectly respectable: a college student
argues for the existence of god in a philosophy class. That's both plausible
and simple. The second movie is about a high school teacher who gets in legal
trouble for talking about Jesus in one of her classes. That starts to get
over-the-top, but if I squint, I can kind of see how one can get to that. Now
it's a church on a college campus being protested and burned down. Sure, I'm
missing some of the context here, but it's real hard for me to swallow the
victim-complex of these movies. Something tells me the reason that this movie
will give for why the church is being protested isn't going to line up with
what would really be protested in this situation.
My Stance: I'm only ever seeing this if I find myself in situations
where I need to be well informed on why these movies are increasingly misguided
beyond a general sense of why.
A boy travels across country with his horse.
Working For It: This isn't a film I expected from director Andrew Haigh,
who has previously made
Weekend, 45 Years, and
the show Looking. I really would dismiss this movie if his name wasn't
attached to it.
Working Against It: Unless there's something I'm missing, this really is
just about a boy and his horse going across the country. I can't think of many
movies like that that I've liked.
My Stance: No reason to hurry, but it is worth tracking down
eventually.
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