If there is a slow period on the movie calendar, it's either September or April. By September, the last remnants of the Summer season are over but the Oscar hopefuls haven't arrived yet. Luckily, studios have been using the time to release a lot of risky movies that will probably be financial failures, but have a lot of sleeper potential.
2018
2017
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2016
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2015
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2016
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2015
2014
2013
9/7
The Nun from the Conjuring movies gets her
own backstory.
Working For It: The Conjuring is doing the kind of franchising
that fits naturally with the premise: they have a room of haunted artifacts,
all with backstories. The Nun has pretty easy marks to hit in order to
be sufficiently scary. This looks like a home run. I like that they cast Vera
Farmiga's daughter Taissa for the lead role too. It completes the circle in a
way.
Working Against It: Horror prequels take some suspense out of things. The
Nun will win. We already know that. The
Annabelle
spinoff did nothing for me - too many jump scares. The Nun trailer
suggests much of the same.
Interest Level: Apathetic
A woman gets revenge on everyone when her family's
murderers go unpunished.
Working For It: I tend to forget that Jennifer Garner made her name
kicking asses in Alias. And what better director for this than the guy
who directed Taken?
Working Against It: Post Alias (and even during), Garner built her
reputation on being nice. I worry that she's been making Catch and Release,
Butter, and Love, Simon too long
to swing back to something this severe. Liam Nesson was also a counter-intuitive
pick for Taken, which reinvented his career. People forget how much of
an accident that movie was though. And Peppermint has no "special
set of skills" speech. Big loss.
Interest Level: Uninterested
An army wife's faith in God is rocked by the death
of her husband who dies in action.
Working For It: Religious films are making a push this month from the
look of things. The director of God's Not Dead is going in a less
confrontational direction. The cast is fine, even though I'd need help coming
up with the name of any of them.
Working Against It: My stance isn't new. Enough of the religious films have
rested on appealing only to their target audience for so long, that it's up to
them to convince me to change me mind about them. This isn't enough to change
anything based on the trailer (which gives away too much of the plot, btw).
Interest Level: Uninterested
9/14
A mother makes friends when a mysterious mother of
another kid in her son's class who then goes missing.
Working For It: I love Anna Kendrick. Blake Lively and Linda Cardellini
too. Henry Goulding won me over in Crazy Rich Asians.
Paul Feig has made many movies I've enjoyed a lot. The pieces add up to a movie
I'm excited for.
Working Against It: Ok, but this isn't a comedy. I don't even think
it's trying to be one. Paul Feig has been directing exclusively comedies since Freaks
and Geeks. This is a massive tonal departure and I'm not sure if I'm ready
for that. I'd love it if he could pull it off. I'm just not sure anyone will be
ready for something this different.
Interest Level: Excited
A predator lands on Earth and starts killing
everyone.
Working For It: The writer/director of The Nice Guys and Iron Man 3,
who rose to fame writing buddy action comedies in the 80s like Lethal Weapon
taking on a reboot of the famed 80s franchise. That's enough to get my
attention. Packing it with "TV All-Stars" like Sterling K. Brown,
Yvonne Strahovski, Olivia Munn, and Keegan-Michael Key is a good move. So is
including the kid from
Room.
Working Against It: I'm suspicious of late Summer action movies with no
apparent identity. There's potential here. The mix of actors could do very well
with Shane Black's banter if that's the direction the movie chooses to go.
That's not on display in the trailer though. I don't see any stand-out action
set-pieces either. The odds are good that this will be another Total Recall.
Interest Level: Curious
A sequel to
Unbroken about Louis
Zamperini's life after the war.
Working For It: You know what, Unbroken didn't need a
sequel, but I am a little curious about making one and going in a different
direction with it. There's a religious angle to this one, which gives me a
great idea: there should be religious sequels to more movies. I'd love Taxi
Driver 2: On the Road to Salvation or Pastor Gump. Maybe that's the
key to getting a real crossover hit.
Working Against It: It is a much lower grade sequel in just about every way.
Remember, Angelina Jolie assembled a crew of legends behind the camera and cast
up-and-comers for the movie. I'd be impressed if anyone in Path to
Redemption was even in the discussion for an Oscar nomination in their
career.
Interest Level: Uninterested
The true story of a boy who became a drug kingpin and
FBI Informant before he turned 16.
Working For It: I'm digging the eclectic cast. It has recent Oscar nominees and winners like
Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Bruce Dern as well as ascending
talents like RJ Cyler, Brian Tyree Henry, and Bel Powley. The true story angle
will help to sell a lot of this. The rest is riding on newcomer Richie Merritt.
Working Against It: Yeah, because we really need another story about the one
white guy who thrived among minorities. Kidding aside, so much of this will
depend on Merritt that I'm not comfortable getting excited for this.
Interest Level: Curious
A documentary about someone trying to understand the
appeal of Trump.
Working For It: The first 3/4s of the trailer sounds like an honest
curiosity about the appeal of Trump. It's a "Blue stater" admitting
that there's something he's missing about what people like about Trump and he
wants to understand it. It sounds like genuine bridge-building.
Working Against It: The last 1/4 of the trailer shows its hand much more and
reaches the same conclusion that I've seen before 100 times already.
Interest Level: Apathetic
Emma Thompson is a judge who must make a decision in
a major case while also dealing with the problems in her own life.
Working For It: I'm getting some
Denial vibes
from this - a British legal drama that isn't looking to over-sensationalize.
I'll see virtually anything with Emma Thompson. I'm a fan of Stanley Tucci as
well.
Working Against It: There's a decent chance this will be Law & Order:
SVU Season 1. That's the season when they would check in on Stabler's home
life all the time. They dropped that by season 2 because, even though the
scenes weren't bad, they just weren't nearly as interesting as the case of the
week. I suspect the version of this movie mainly focusing on the legal case
Thompson has to decide on would be better that the split approach they are
going with.
Interest Level: Intrigued
A filmmaker secretly films the awful conditions of a
Chinese labor camp after an Oregon woman finds an SOS letter in an item she
bought that was made there.
Working For It: I think anything that involves a smuggled SOS note is
worth following up on. That sets off a chain of events that I'd like to see.
Working Against It: The question of any documentary is length. Could this
story be told better as a 5-10 minute news story or a 30-40 minute short? I
don't know. I suspect that the SOS letter is the most interesting part of the
story. That's at the beginning. How does the rest of the movie sustain the
momentum?
Interest Level: Curious
A reimagining of the Lizzie Borden murders.
Working For It: People sure are intrigued by this story. I like that this
isn't trying to be factual. Since we only know so much about the murders, why
not throw out a theory. The idea for this is that Lizzie (Chloe Sevigny) falls
for a maid (Kristen Stewart), which somehow drives her to kill.
Working Against It: I don't see a TV or movie having a better take on the
Lizzie Borden murders than Smart Guy did back in the late 1990s.
Interest Level: Apathetic
A Documentary about kids competing in an
international science fair.
Working For It: It's an effective documentary premise: bring a camera
into a specific world that most of us don't know much about and introduce us to
the main players.
Working Against It: Part of me wonders if Christopher Guest has destroyed my
ability to really love a documentary like this after mockumentaries like Best
in Show so
effectively parodied the style.
Interest Level: Intrigued
9/21
Michael Moore, doing his thing again. This time,
about Trump.
Working For It: I won't lie. I think the title is accidentally perfect.
There was no way to plan it. It just happened.
Working Against It: I have no 'in' with this. I hated Fahrenheit 9/11. I
think Michael Moore is insufferable. I hate this style of documentary
filmmaking. There's a "boy who cried wolf" aspect to it as well.
Bush was the worst thing ever. Now Trump
is. The next one in 2028 or whenever will then be the worst.
Interest Level: Repelled
A supernatural adventure with an orphaned boy living
in a house with many clocks on the walls.
Working For It: I don't really know what this movie is about. I know
that it looks like it should be produced by Guillermo del Toro or Steven
Spielberg*. It has Jack Black, which sounds right for a movie that could be a
Goosebumps
sequel easily enough. It also has Cate Blanchett, which is a little surprising.
Director Eli Roth had made decidedly grimmer movies before this, but I could see
this being his Spy Kids
easily enough. Kyle MacLachlan could bring some Lynch-ian energy to this.
Working Against It: None of this addresses that I still have no idea what
this movie is. I'll assume it's Goosebumps meets Monster House.
I'm indifferent about both of those and assume I'll be indifferent about this.
Interest Level: Apathetic
*It's produced by Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment,
but Spielberg is not listed specifically as a producer.
The story of a couple and how the people in their
lives influence what happens with them. (Vague. I know)
Working For It: This looks like the ultimate boom or bust movie of 2018.
It's got a cast full of Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Annette Bening, Olivia Cook,
Jean Smart, Mandy Patinkin, and Antonio Banderas. It's from writer/director Dan
Fogelman, who is behind both This Is Us and Crazy, Stupid Love.
The man likes twisty stories about the intersection of a lot of lives. He's
great at tying things together and/or emotional payoffs. The best version of
this movie is something spectacular.
Working Against It: Then again, I know his game now. I can tell that the
marketing of this is strategic. It's hiding something. Now that I'm looking for
it, can it work as well? The reason why I love Crazy, Stupid Love and
why This Is Us became an instant hit is because people didn't expect the
surprises at the time. Is Dan Fogelman in danger of being the M. Night
Shaymalan of family dramas? I hope not.
Interest Level: Intrigued
A documentary about Gilda Radner told from her own
words.
Working For It: Frankly, I haven't heard enough of Gilda Radner's
story. Mixing the doc with letters that she wrote has a Zen Diaries quality
that I like. And they assemble a good collection of comedy talent to talk about
her: both people who knew her (Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels) and people who were
inspired by her (Amy Poehler, Melissa McCarthy, Bill Hader).
Working Against It: This is probably more of a TV experience than a theater
one. There's isn't much against seeing it though.
Interest Level: Curious
Two assassins in the Wild West hunt down a gold
prospector.
Working For It: This feels right. My appreciation for Westerns has grown
over the last couple years. It looks
comedic in a Coen brothers way. John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix as the
titular brothers look like a good match. It'll also be nice to see
Nightcrawler
stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed reunite in something with a much lighter
tone.
Working Against It: Until now, I've associated director Jacques Audiard with
much more serious dramas. This appears to be a big departure.
Interest Level: Intrigued
9/28
A horror night at an amusement park turns real.
Working For It: I nearly wrote that I covered this last month already.
Then I realized that was a different movie (Blood Fest) with an
identical premise. Hell Fest looks like the slightly more conventional
play; less nichey. It has the kind of young cast where one person may end up
winning an Emmy in 15 years, the rest will get bit parts for a while before
disappearing, and whoever you think the first one will be is probably wrong.
Working Against It: I don't know. Just not my kind of horror. I feel like a
lot of this will rely on people making dumb decisions to further the plot
along.
Interest Level: Apathetic
A modern take on a classic tale.
Working For It: There's a reason people keep readapting this book. It's a
nice story. I don't recall ever seeing it updated to modern times. That could
be fun.
Working Against It: Lea Thompson is the only cast member I know by name. That
hints at the level of the production. And, I suspect we'll find that there's a
reason the story doesn't normally get updated.
Interest Level: Apathetic
A motley crew of adults try to get their GEDs at night school.
Working For It: I guess this is when we find out if Tiffany Haddish is
sustainable. She reunites with her Girls Trip director and gets a
co-lead role this time. Kevin Hart is a star who is willing to go as big as
Haddish wants. If nothing else, hopefully Haddish comes out of this looking
like an established star.
Working Against It: Because, if Haddish doesn't run away with this, there's
not much else left. It looks like a very generic PG-13 comedy. Hart is only as
good as the material he's given.
Interest Level: Apathetic
An animated movie about a yeti who goes searching
for humans.
Working For It: This has a weird voice cast. Channing Tatum, Zendaya,
James Corden, Gina Rodriguez, Danny DeVito, Common, Yara Shahidi, and Lebron
James. I don't know what to do with this. I think I'm at least curious.
Working Against It: I liked it better when it was called Monster's Inc.
Interest Level: Apathetic
A female stand up comedian moves from NYC to LA.
Working For It: I'm happy to watch Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a stand-up
comedian for 90 minutes.
Working Against It: I'd feel a lot better about this if I saw more stand-ups
in the credits for the movie.
Interest Level: Curious
A lifelong gentleman robber navigates the final act of his storied career.
Working For It: After Pete's Dragon and A Ghost Story, I'll give anything that writer/director David Lowery makes a shot. Robert Redford looks like he's at peak movie star charm. I don't see enough of Sissy Spacek either.
Working Against It: Like Lowery's other movies, there's not much in the trailer that excites me.
Interest Level: Intrigued
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