2014
2013
2/5
Working For It: It's a Nicolas Spark adaptation starring Teresa Palmer and Benjamin Walker. The conflict is that...I'll come back to that. I'm surprised that Palmer hasn't had a big movie role yet. She seems to be on the fringe of being big-time. The rest of the cast has people like Alexandra Daddario, Tom Welling, Maggie Grace, and Tom Wilkinson, which sounds about right.
Working Against It: I watched the trailer. I have no idea what the conflict is. I think there's a car crash at some point maybe. The Sparks movies tend to pound you with the hook. I can't imagine they're cleverly hiding it. So yeah, I hope pretty people not getting together, then getting together without much else is your thing.
Interest Level: I've made by decision and it isn't favorable.
Working For It: God bless the Coen Brothers. This cast is undeniable: George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Scarlet Johansson, Jonah Hill, Tilda Swinton to name a few. It's a comedy about Old Hollywood and the kidnapping of a studio star. This was given the Monuments Men "Please don't mistake this for an Oscar movie despite its pedigree" release date. I loved the Coen brothers' last movie (Inside Llewyn Davis) and this looks like it will follow up that nicely.
Working Against It: While Coen brothers movies are never bad, exactly, there are times (A Serious Man, Intolerable Cruelty, Barton Fink) when it just doesn't click with me. There's a chance Hail, Caesar! will be one of those, although this looks like it's in that Burn After Reading/O Brother Where Art Thou? sweet spot.
Interest Level: No chance I'll miss it
Working For It: This is based on the (from my understanding) "better than it should be" book. It's about exactly what you expect. Lily James following up Cinderella with this seems kind of brilliant. Most of the cast is rounded out by familiar non A-listers like Lena Heady (Game of Thrones), Matt Smith (Dr. Who), Emma Greenwell (Shameless), Charles Dance (also Game of Thrones), and Bella Heathcote (Dark Shadows).
Working Against It: The movie is entirely being sold to audiences on the "attractive women in Victorian dresses killing zombies" visuals. Whether this is any good or not is going to depend on the command of the tone. This is a big departure for writer/director Burr Steers (Director: 17 Again, Writer: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days). I'm curious to see how this goes.
Interest Level: It's almost a certainty that I'll see it and I have no good reason.
Working For It: Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson star in a horror movie about the occult. It's from the director of The Others. Frankly, Watson doesn't make enough movies, making her presence alone enough to consider seeing this.
Working Against It: In general, when a horror movie is also a thriller, the horror aspects get forgotten by the end, which doesn't interest me as much. I also recall hearing middling things about it when it was being screened for the festival circuit.
Interest Level: Do I need to see Emma Watson that much?
Working For It: Rebecca Hall is the widow of a famous author living in a small town. Jason Sudeikis is a reporter trying to get his story from her. They fall in love. There's a secret about the husband. It'll probably not be that big a deal. With Hall and Sudeikis as the leads, I'm sure it will be charming.
Working Against It: Unproven writer/director. The story sounds pretty generic. It'll be up to how well the cast gels.
Interest Level: While I do like Rebecca Hall, it seems unlikely.
2/12
Working For It: A Marvel movie with a hard R rating. It's still a little hard to believe this finally got made. I don't know much about the character, but he seems to be a popular one among comic fans and, Ryan Reynolds sounds like the right casting choice. I'm excited to see Morena Baccarin, Gina Carano, and TJ Miller in the supporting cast. This whole movie looks like a bold move by Fox/Marvel. I'm interested to see how this plays out.
Working Against It: There's no way this will be a big hit. The hard R is isolating too much of the fan base. The question is what level of a success it will be. I was exhausted by just the red band trailer. If the movie is all winking and little story, that could be a problem.
Interest Level: I feel like it should be higher than it is.
Working For It: Dakota Johnson is becoming the queen of Valentine's Day after Fifty Shades of Grey last year and now this date night special. There's nothing to the story of a newly single woman trying to date again that I find terribly exciting. What has me buzzing is the cast. I liked Johnson in Ben & Kate a lot, so it'll be nice to see her doing comedy again. Rebel Wilson can be a liability, but Pitch Perfect proves that if she's used right, she's an asset. If anyone remembers The Other Woman, Leslie Mann is dynamite in this kind of setting. Then there's Alison Brie. I still don't know how she hasn't headlined a major movie. And I haven't even gotten to the men in the cast.
Working Against It: I worry about the joke density. Every trailer and TV spot has used the same couple jokes. Rarely a good sign. I'm rooting for this to be better than the previews.
Interest Level: Higher than it probably should be
Working For It: It looks like Zoolander is going from Toy Story to Cars 2. Derek Zoolander and Co. are spies tracking down whoever is killing all the beautiful people. Zoolander is one of Ben Stiller's most enduring movies. Even if this is an Anchorman 2 level of rehashing the same jokes and beats, it'll still fill two hours well.
Working Against It: Comedy sequels are hard. Always. It's been 14 years since the first movie. I hope this doesn't rely too heavily on nostalgia from the first.
Interest Level: For February, pretty high
Working For It: This tells the story of two soulmates who take 40 years to finally get together. The trailer spells the whole thing out. It looks so clean cut that I had to see if this was a Mollywood movie (It isn't). This looks so simple and earnest that it might actually pull off what it's trying to do.
Working Against It: There's a high probability that this is a dull, lifeless romance movie. Something about that trailer though. I'm intrigued.
Interest Level: I doubt I'll see it, but I'll think about it on occasion.
Working For It: This is a horror anthology from the people who made the V/H/S movies. Let's ignore Viral. I love the first two V/H/S movies. The idea of more horror anthologies from the people behind it excites me to no end. I'll be looking for this as soon as I can.
Working Against It: It stands no chance of getting to a theater anywhere near me. That's the only reason I won't be seeing this sooner.
Interest Level: It'll go in my queue the second I can find it.
Working For It: Michael Moore visits other countries to show how they are better than the U.S. but also finds reason to be encouraged by the U.S. Moore is a solid documentarian. He clearly cares a lot about his topics, does research, and films well on a technical level.
Working Against It: I just don't like his product. Regardless of if I agree with his stances or not, I just don't care for his style. I don't enjoy documentaries in the structure of "I'm right and here's why". That doesn't interest me.
Interest Level: No. Just, no.
2/19
Working For It: Stephen James plays Jesse Owens as he decides whether or not to go to the 1936 Olympics. Jason Sudeikis is his coach. I think the biggest surprise about it is that it isn't made by Disney. This has a slightly different dynamic than the typical sports movie about racial tension in that it's dealing with race domestically and internationally.
Working Against It: It does look like it's working off a template for this kind of movie. I generally like that template, but I do need to be in the mood for it.
Interest Level: I could take it or leave it.
Working For It: The story of Jesus' resurrection told without Jesus. Joseph Fiennes is a Roman soldier trying to find Jesus after word spreads that he has risen. I guess that's kind of a nifty idea. This is where I'm going to mention Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.
Working Against It: I don't know what this movie is. Is it spiritual? Is it a red herring? The Jesus thing is curious, but it's not like there's a lot of ways this can go. It's being sold like a mystery and I don't know why.
Interest Level: I keep looking and I can't find any desire to see it.
Working For It: I remember hearing about this after Sundance (I think) last year. It's a horror movie about witchcraft and curses in Puritan New England. What excites me the most is how much the previews are shying away from giving information about what's going on. It just looks creepy.
Working Against It: I may be too cowardly to see this in theaters.
Interest Level: I can't wait for those nightmares.
2/26
Working For It: Forest Gump meets Cool Runnings. It's a movie, based on a true story, about a clumsy British man determined to be an Olympian, who takes up high ski jumping to get to the Olympics. It's literally everything you think it will be based on that description. It may be worth seeing just for an unrecognizable Taron Egerton (Kingsman).
Working Against It: I feel like winter Olympic underdog stories peaked in 1993.
Interest Level: Just as soon as I see One Chance
Working For It: This is like an Egyptian Clash of the Titans. It's got King Leonidas, Jamie Lannister, two of the ladies from Mad Max: Fury Road, the Giver in training, Count Adhemar, Captain Barbossa, and Black Panther. That's a lot of people.
Working Against It: Do you remember Pompeii? It came out around this time two years ago. It was full of a bunch of people you've heard of and associate with one role. It like a $100 million B-movie. Remember that movie? ...Exactly.
Interest Level: The gods do not look favorably on this.
Working For It: There's a SWAT team and one of the cops is also involved in some bank robberies. It's the kind of script that can only come about from remembering you had a pitch meeting after you spent a night getting drunk and watching S.W.A.T. and The Departed back to back.
Working Against It: Occasionally there are movies that you look at and no matter how hard you try, you can't figure out how they got a cast that good. I figure that Michael Kenneth Williams, Norman Reedus, and Aaron Paul are probably available and affordable. Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, and Teresa Palmer have profiles, although I can believe they'd have some time to do this. Anthony Mackie and Gal Gadot are pretty busy being superheroes, but they aren't main characters, I suppose. I would think Chiwetel Ejiofor wouldn't have to accept any job offered to him. I know Kate Winslet has a full plate whenever she wants (Did she just really want to play a villain with an accent, maybe?). We're talking about the Director of Lawless and The Road though. How'd he get all those people?
Interest Level: I can't imagine how I'd end up seeing it.
Working For It: The first four words kind of make the last three redundant.
Working Against It: I didn't even realize it was getting a theater release. Netflix is confusing. The lack of Ang Lee means lacking the one thing that made this movie interesting to me.
Interest Level: Maybe if I'm bored.
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