Thursday, August 31, 2017

September Movie Preview


Was August a disappointment? In the box office, absolutely. It hit numbers that were the lowest in a decade or two, not adjusted for inflation. It's the first time in many years that no film grossed $100 million in the month. It's hard to find anything that could be considered a box office success released in the last month. But, the movies weren't bad. I took advantage of the expansion market and found some decent movies. September is going to be a slight rebound, especially as Oscar hopefuls and a couple blockbusters try to get in on the early fall market toward the end of the month. Mostly though, September's going to be busy. There were a tome of movies the go through this month, especially limited releases. Just getting through all the trailers set me back a couple days more than normal. It doesn't look like I'll be struggling to find something any week, which is all I care about.

2017
 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug   
2016
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec  
2015
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec 
2014
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
2013
Mar |  Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

9/1
This again? This is at least the third time I've thought this movie was going to come out. For the love of god, can they just release it already? Tom Stoppard movie. Excellent cast. 17th century Amsterdam setting. I want to see it.
My Position: Please release this movie. I want to see it.

Jackals [Limited]
A home invasion is committed by a bunch of people wearing jackal masks. They want your baby.
Working For It: This is totally not the same as You'reNext...that is, unless you liked You're Next, in which case, it's exactly the same. Home invasion movies aren't my favorite kind of scary movie, but I do like them. It seems like the trailer is hiding something, which could be fun.
Working Against It: But really, this looks a little too much like You're Next, which had a much more notable creative team behind it . This is from the director of some of the later Saw films. Even though I heard that the Saw films get better toward the end, they are still Saw films, and I didn't enjoy the first four.
My Position: I'm going to keep an eye on this, because I'm always looking for good horror with a little production value. This could fit the bill.

The Layover [Limited]
Two women fight over the same guy while on a road trip.
Working For It: How do you make Alexandra Daddario look like less than a supermodel? That's easy, right? You cast her next to a supermodel. In this case, Kate Upton. Except that doesn't work. Now it just looks like two supermodels were cast for a movie. I like Daddario. I like Upton. I like that they both want to make it in comedies. I don't have enough evidence they they can carry this kind of screwball comedy though. They are surrounded by funny people like Matt Jones, Kal Penn, Molly Shannon, and Rob Corddry. That's encouraging.
Working Against It: This is directed by William H. Macy, who has directed before, but not anything like this. This movie is the kind of broad comedy that sinks or swims based on the leads. Nothing I've seen these leads in makes me believe they can pull it off.
My Position: I'm curious enough about Macy as a director, the fact the it's written by a couple It's Always Sunny alums, and if Upton in particular has picked up any comedic timing, that I'll probably track this down eventually.

Temple [Limited]
Americans tourists visiting Japan visit a mysterious temple and bad stuff happens.
Working For It: It's comical how immediately a V/H/S connection will make me give a horror movie a chance. Simon Barrett in particular is a name to follow. He wrote segments for the first two V/H/S movies as well as You're Next, The Guest, and Blair Witch. He wrote the screenplay for Temple, so I'll track it down eventually.
Working Against It: A lot of horror movies have casts that are pretty anonymous, so I can't hold that against this. This is a first time director. Before this he was the director of photography on a lot of movies not known for their cinematography. Cinematographers have mixed results as directors.
My Position: I'll definitely see this at some point, but I rarely race to see horror movies in theaters. Too much quality variance.

9/8
Several people try to rescue people stuck in one of the elevators in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Working For It: Charlie Sheen is a Golden Globe winner and Whoopi Goldberg is an Oscar winner.
Working Against It: When it comes to being "too soon" for something, there's phases for it. It's not too soon to be making 9/11 movies. There have been several over the years already, like the fantastic United 93. It's not too soon for harrowing recreations of the events. It's not too soon for films about the fallout of 9/11, like Extremely Loudand Incredibly Close or Reign Over Me. It might be too soon for an outright thriller though. Or, if I'm abandoning the "too soon" argument, I don't like that what looks like a mediocre action movie is trying to milk unearned emotion out of the 9/11 attacks.
My Position: The movie feels a little icky, kind of like I'm Not Ashamed.

A single mother invites three 20-something men to live with her, her kids, and her mother for a while, but, like, not in a "sex party" kind of way.
Working For It: The single mom is played by Resse Witherspoon, so that alone is almost enough to convince me to see it. I also like Lake Bell, Michael Sheen, Candice Bergen, and Reid Scott well enough. This sounds like a benign enough pleasant comedy.
Working Against It: This looks frighteningly similar to a Nancy Meyer movie (It's Complicated, The Intern, TheHoliday, Something's Gotta Give) and there's a reason for that. This is the first film written and directed by Nancy Meyer's daughter. That's going to be a big selling point for some. I'm not as enamored with those films.
My Position: I don't know what to do with comedies that aren't going for laughs. I'm sure the movie will be perfectly harmless which is both a plus and a minus.

You know the drill. Scary clown. Lives under a town. Terrified town.
Working For It: Scary clown. Jump scares. It's from the director of Mama, which was an effective enough horror movie from a major studio a couple years ago.
Working Against It: For one, I'm pretty sure the idea and memory of It is scarier than it is in execution. I'm not fond of jump scare horror. I also have no idea what to make of the writing team. There's three credited writers. One only has a couple shorts to his name. Another is behind the Conjuring spin-off movies (Annabelle and The Nun). The third is Cary Fukanaga, who is best known as the director of the first season of True Detective and Beasts of No Nation. That's an odd mix.
My Position: Stephen King adaptations are a mixed bag. The last one that I saw and liked was 1408, which was a decade ago. I'm interested enough to probably see this, but it's by no means a lock.

Rebel in the Rye [Limited]
J.D. Sallinger biopic about the writing of Catch in the Rye.
Working For It: I'm surprised there haven't been more films about Salliger released since his death in 2010. This looks like a respectable effort though. Nicholas Hoult is playing Sallinger. The cast also includes Zoey Deutch, Kevin Spacey, Sarah Paulson, and Victor Garber. Danny Strong is already a prolific screenwriter and this will be his feature film directorial debut as well. I don't think he'll be bad at it.
Working Against It: I can't tell if the movie is being made using the "Oscar bait" formula from 1992 or if that's just how the trailer is cut. All the biopic cliche's are there. And, how many movies have successfully made a story about writing a book look interesting? It's very difficult to pull off.
My Position: I guess, before we start getting the smaller movies about individual chapters of Salliger's life, we have to get a couple broad biopics out of the way. There's a better than 0 chance I'll track this down eventually.

Trophy [Limited]
A documentary about big game hunters and the arguments for and against it.
Working For It: The film appears to be tackling both sides of the issue rather than just going for the easy "killing animals is bad" argument. I'm not sure it'll convince me that big game hunting is great, but I appreciate any documentary that's willing to look into the less popular questions.
Working Against It: There's going to be a lot of scenes of people posing with dead animals, and that's a little too macabre for my taste.
My Position: This isn't one that I will ever consciously track down, but if it ends up on a Netflix list down the road, I'll hit play, at least for a while.

9/15
A blind woman gets her sight back and adjusts to her "new life".
Working For It: It's from Marc Forster, who directed my beloved Stranger Than Fiction. The core cast includes Yvonne Strahovski, Blake Lively, and Jason Clarke, who I like to varying degrees.
Working Against It: The trailer I've tracked down for it doesn't say much about what the movie is about, just the inciting event. I can't even say if this is more of a drama or a thriller. It could be a comedy for all I know. And, as much as I love Marc Forster for Stranger Than Fiction (and, I suppose Finding Neverland), I'm not crazy about his more recent films like Quantum of Solace and World War Z.
My Position: I need to have a much clearer picture about what this movie even is.

A man trains to become a CIA counterterrorism agent after his girlfriend is killed in a terrorist attack.
Working For It: For an action movie, it's a solid cast. Dylan O'Brien (The Maze Runner) is the lead. Michael Keaton is his mentor. Taylor Kitsch is Keaton's former protege who went rogue and is now a super villain. Sanaa Lathan some sort of higher up in the CIA as well. It looks like it will be exactly what it promises to be and nothing more.
Working Against It: Even the name is generic. And not the generic kind of name that actually makes it kind of interesting, like TheAccountant. No, this is like it came out of a Steven Seagal movie name generator.
My Position: Short of a John Wick-ian critical response, I see no reason to ever track this down.

A couple's peaceful like is disrupted when mysterious visitors arrive.
Working For It: I don't know much about the actual plot. The selling point is Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, and Kristen Wiig and that it's directed by  Darren Aronofsky. Apparently it's getting Rosemary's Baby comparisons, and if you are talking about a horror movie by an auteur director, that's a good movie to be getting compared to.
Working Against It: I guess while I generally like Aronofsky's movies, I haven't been blown away by any of them. I guess that caps my excitement some.
My Position: This looks like a safe bet as a can't miss movie, especially when you look around at how desolate early September is looking.

Brad's Status [Limited]
Ben Stiller takes his son on college visits and reflects on if his life has been a failure.
Working For It: Jenna Fischer plays stiller's wife, and it's nice to see her, even if it doesn't look like a big role. This is a Mike White film, which means this will have a solid mix of poignancy and squirm-inducing awkwardness. That's been a hallmark of nearly all of his work from Freaks & Geeks to The Good Girl to Enlightened.
Working Against It: My biggest concern is that this might feel too real. Also, it's worth noting that, while I liked what White did in something like Enlightened, I also had a hard time finishing the show (I'm still not finished with the first season after starting it a couple years ago, which is a rarity for me).
My Position: I'm probably going to skip this just because I like to avoid awkward situations.

Glenn Close is a movie star preparing to marry husband number four, supposing one of her previous husbands doesn't get in the way.
Working For It: Look, this is a film with Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Patrick Stewart at the top of the call sheet. While none of them are bringing their A-game, I expect that they will still be enjoyably watchable.
Working Against It: This is what I call a "might as well" movie. I assume everyone in it was given the script, had a little free time in their schedule, and said, "Sure. I might as well". The director, Damian Harris, works very infrequently, and hasn't done anything with this light of a tone in several decades if ever.
My Position: I will not be tracking this down.

9/22
A cool high school girl de-friends a social reject who later commits suicide and stalks the cool girl digitally.
Working For It: This is kind of like The Ring meets Final Destination meets Unfriended. OK, it's mostly just Unfriended without the interesting storytelling device.
Working Against It: While not quite in the release purgatory of Tulip Fever, this has jumped around the release schedule a lot. It doesn't seem like anyone wants to release this.
My Position: Nope. There are just too many holes in the digital logic that I'll be picking at the whole time.

Eggsy and the Kingsmen call in the aid of their American counterparts after their base is destroyed.
Working For It: Here's what you need to know. All the heroes you loved from the first movie are back. Swap out Samuel L. Jackson for Julianne Moore as the villain. Add the likes of Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges playing cowboy super spies. The world established in the first film left a lot unexplored, making sequels a natural conclusion.
Working Against It: This looks like a classic case of a sequel employing the "more is more" principle to filmmaking. Also, as much as I loved Colin Firth in the first movie, it feels like a cheat to bring him back.
My Position: I'm  expecting this to be another Pitch Perfect 2. The first movie was plenty funny, had a lot of heart, and had a story that worked. The second went harder for laughs and had a story that didn't work nearly as well. I still enjoyed it, but it didn't stick with me as much. There's no chance I will miss The Golden Circle, but I'm already prepared for what I should expect from it.

A LEGO movie set in the world a Ninjago, about a son defending his world from his evil father.
Working For It: As always, this has a great voice cast that's too diverse to even starting listing, a nice amount of self-referential humor, and a good deal of imagination. I'm still baffled by the existence of this LEGO movie franchise and that looks to successfully continue with this film.
Working Against It: Well, other than the trailer having far too much exposition, almost working like a mini-movie, I'm not sure I care enough about the world of Ninjago.
My Position: This is the big test of the LEGO franchise, right? The LEGO Movie succeeded with the mix of a clever idea, an inventive animation style, an unsuspecting audience, and clever directors in Phil Lord and Chris Miller who were perfect for the sensibility of the film. The LEGO Batman Movie had a tie-in back to the first movie and leaned on enough known properties for the anarchy that worked so well the first time to work again. Ninjago is when we find out how elastic this all is. It has a more limited brand appeal and doesn't appear to be getting the priority that the other two films did. Are we looking forward to a world of one or two LEGO movies a year, with that animation style creating it's own sub genre, or will there just be the occasional movie when ever someone has an idea that's good enough? In other words, is LEGO going to be Dreamworks Animation or Shrek?

A comedy about the infamous 70s tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggins.
Working For It: I love Emma Stone and Steve Carrell. The Battle of the Sexes is a really interesting event in the 70s that is perfect for a film adaptation. The film reunites Carrell with his Little Miss Sunshine directors too.
Working Against It: Is there any chance that the film about the Battle of the Sexes could be as entertaining as the real thing?
My Position: I like Stone and Carrell too much to miss this. Carrell as Riggins is an especially entertaining casting choice.

Stronger [Limited]
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jeff Bauman, a man who lost his legs during the Boston Marathon bombing
Working For It: Gyllenhaal is one of my very favorite working actors. Tatiana Maslany plays his girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend, or future girlfriend (I guess that's the suspense of the movie) and Tatiana Maslany is wonderful. Those two nearly secure it for me. And director David Gordon Green has a mixed filmography that includes Pineapple Express, Prince Avalanche, and Our Brand Is Crisis. I don't know if I should call that a plus.
Working Against It: Well, I already saw oneBoston Marathon bombing movie this year and it was pretty good. I don't know if I need another.
My Position: If you can't tell, this September is one that's going to be full options, and I suspect October will be even more crowded. While I like Gyllenhaal a lot, I could easily see this getting edge out.

9/29
Tom Cruise is a drug runner under the employment of the CIA in the 1980s.
Working For It: Here's what I know. I'm a fan of "Movie Star Tom Cruise". He's surrounded by the likes of Domhnall Gleeson, Jess Plemons, Lola Kirke, Jayma Mays, and Sarah Wright (who I keep thinking is Brooklyn Decker). Cruise is reuiniting with his Edge of Tomorrow director*. It looks like a fun, vaguely true story.
*They've changed the title to Live Die and Repeat, but I refuse to accept it.
Working Against It: This is cut from the same "based on a true story" cloth as Gold and War Dogs. No one saw Gold (for a reason). I did see War Dogs and hated it. I'm not sure how much wiggle room this movie has to be good...
My Position: ...that doesn't matter much, because I'm seeing it. It promises to be watchable even if it isn't good.

Medical students experiment with triggering-near death experiences but aren't prepared for the horrors that come back with them from the other side.
Working For It: This is a remake of the pop-horror movie from 1990 that's more notable for its cast than the content of the movie. Again, with a cast that includes Nina Dobrev, Ellen Page, Diego Luna, and Kiersey Clemons, this 2017 version looks like its most notable for its cast. This appears to be a remake, not a sequel though, because at least Keifer Sutherland is reprising his role from the original film.
Working Against It: Didn't we just do this movie? I don't mean the 1990 film. That was 27 years ago. We've have 5 Batmans since then. It's been long enough. No, I mean, didn't we just have The LazarusEffect 2 years ago? That movie wasn't very good (but had a better cast). The original Flatliners wasn't very good. I have low expectations for this one.
My Position: I'll probably see this at some point because of the cast, but I assume I won't like it and I'm in no hurry.

Lucky [Limited]
A 90 year old man in a quirky town contemplates life and his atheism in his waning days.
Working For It: It seems like giving character actors showcase films is becoming popular lately. Sam Elliot got one earlier this year with Hero. Now Harry Dean Stanton has one. I wasn't even going to bother mentioning this movie until I saw that it has David Lynch in what looks like a significant supporting role. I'm not sure what to make of that. I just think it's interesting when a director decides to act in someone else's project.
Working Against It: I mean, I'm not planning on seeing this. I don't think I can give you a good reason why. It just doesn't look very interesting to me, even with a fun cast and the fact that it's John Carroll Lynch's directorial debut...wait, are those two Lynch's related? David isn't old enough to be his dad.
My Position: No. Probably not, unless there's a ton of great buzz.