Delayed Reaction: Rambo: First Blood Part 2

What I Guessed It Was About: John Rambo gets out of prison and assigned to s special mission. You know how he picked on some cops in the mountains last time? That was nothing.

How I Came Into It: I knew that nearly everything that's iconic about Rambo is in this movie. Testosterone and explosions. A body count that's impossibly high. That's Rambo.

Why I Saw It: This was exactly what I thought I was going to watch. Rambo 2 completely commits to what it is and does it with a straight-faced seriousness that you have to admire. The man destroys a military base with a bow and arrow like he's a Marvel superhero (or a DC one...people like archers). It's a lot of fun.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: It becomes self parody pretty damn easily. I laughed out loud when Rambo promises his love interest that she'll come back to the U.S. with him and she is killed seconds later. Sorry, she wasn't killed. She was obliterated. In my mind, this immediately should be compared to Commando, which is more my tempo, cracking some jokes in between killing everyone and thing.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

What I Guessed It Was About: It's a horror sequel that only wants to bend the formula a bit, so take any of the pronouns in the first script and change them. Now you have the script for part 2

How I Came Into It: I was aware that this is the gayest slasher movie ever. That alone makes this more interesting than any of the future sequels are likely to be.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) There's the great game within the movie of finding all the homosexual subtext because it is everywhere. That made it automatically engaging and enough changes are made from the original that it felt fresh.
Is it just me or does Kim Meyers in this look like she's related to Meryl Streep?

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I'm torn. Rehashing the exact thing over and over again gets tedious. Then again, at what point do changes break too far from formula? The whole point of Freddy Kruger is that he attacks in your dreams. Having him in the waking world doesn't feel right.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Movie Reaction: Sicario

Formula: Zero Dark Thirty * Traffic

Why I Saw It: Emily Blunt.

Cast: Super solid collection of actors. Emily Blunt is the understated lead. Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro get some flashy supporting roles. Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya, Maximilliano Hernandez, and others show up too.

Plot: Kate Macer (Blunt) is an FBI agent brought onto a joint task force with [she assumes] the CIA where she meets Matt Graver (Brolin) and the mysterious Alejandro (del Toro). They are trying to make a “big splash” with the Mexican drug cartels by going after some of the top figures. The movie follows Kate as she tries to understand what Matt and Alejandro are up to.

Thoughts:
I notice that most of the comparisons made to this movie are Traffic. I don't agree with that. Given the El Paso/Juarez setting, the TV show The Bridge might be better. The plot plays out most similarly to Zero Dark Thirty though. Sicario is a slow burn movie. The audience spends most of the movie in the dark. The momentum is kept up more through feelings of unease than anything big that happens. That works really well most of the time, but I left the movie disappointed that more didn't happen. This is a single chapter in a much larger story. It is a very well told chapter though. Denis Villenueve impressed me a lot with Prisoners a couple years ago, and Sicario lingers with me in the same way.
The whole movie was very familiar. As one of the 47 people who watch FX's The Bridge among other similar things, there was very little this movie covered that I hadn't seen before. I imagine for everyone else though, the setting will be less familiar and thus enough to sustain the whole film.
Regardless, the performances are top notch. Emily Blunt is deserving of all the praise I can give her for this. It's not a flashy performance at all and it's something I hadn't seen from her before. Both del Toro and Brolin struck me with their ease. They give very lived-in performances that make it clear that nothing about this movie is special, which ties back into my “chapter in a larger stroy” comment.

Elephant in the Room: Ok, but I still don't really know what it's about? I'm sorry. It's not a great movie for selling you on a pitch. It's about the U.S.'s role in stopping the worldwide drug trade. The intrigue of the movie is that while you're watching it, you're a little confused by it. There's nothing to spoil in this. It's a small story in a much larger world.

To Sum Things Up:
Some movies are defined by their uniqueness. Others by how they take a lot of familiar elements and effectively mix them together. Sicario is in the latter category. All I can say is that if it looks at all interesting to you, you'll probably enjoy it, because it's a good version of that type of movie.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Movie Reaction: The Walk

Formula: Man on Wire + actors + a budget

Why I Saw It: The promise of Robert Zemeckis using his talents to recreate that walk is something I could not pass up.

Cast: This is a pretty unsuspecting cast. There's Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a little bit of Ben Kingsley. After that, John Ralphio from Parks and Rec. (Ben Schwartz) is the next most recognizable person. It struck me as odd that they didn't aim a little higher in recognizability with the casting.

Plot: Philippe Petit is a Parisian tightrope walker. In the mid 1970s, he decides to do a walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. This is his story.

Thoughts:
There is exactly one reason to see this movie and it should come as no surprise that the reason is “the walk”. I wanted to see this on the biggest screen I could find (sadly, I had to settle for the very underwhelming Louisville IMAX option) and soak it in. That part of the movie is done every bit as well as I could want. I felt the height the whole time, and even though this is a 40 year old story, I still worried the whole time that he would fall (We live in a post Inglourious Basterds world after all). If you are seeing this movie, it's for that walk and it is worth it.
The other big takeaway from the movie was that it's a nice memorial for the Twin Towers. It's sort of the story of their birth. The movie reminds the audience that they were initially disliked by people, seen as eyesores. This walk helped to legitimize them, gave them a history. Then, the movie never gets to 9/11 (much appreciated). One thing Petit makes clear from the very beginning of the movie is that he never says “death” when talking about a walk, and the towers are given the same treatment. The closing lines are a little on a nose, but more touching than anything in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close or World Trade Center.
I won't even save this as my Elephant: You just have to accept that Joseph Gordon Levitt is using that accent. It sounds over the top, even if you do realize that Petit actually sounds like that. It's a solid performance otherwise. The supporting cast is fine too. They are mostly just impressions of the real people involved, which is fine.
Everyone is a means to an end: the end being the walk. The first half of the movie isn't bad. It's filler though. If the movie could be released as a 30 minute wire walk, that would've maybe been better. That isn't how the business works though.

Elephant in the Room: How does it compare to Man on Wire? The Walk is more impressive. Man on Wire tells a better story. It's as simple as that. You watch the documentary if you want to hear an amazing story about how a man actually walked on a wire, a hundred floors high and survived. You watch The Walk if you want to feel like you did the walk.

To Sum Things Up:
Haven't I made this clear? There's a really cool tightrope walk sequence that is worth seeing on the big screen. The other hour of the movie is fine and forgettable.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Weekly 10: 10/6-10/12

Sorry for the week off from the blog. I needed a little vacation from it. Don't worry though. I've got plenty to cover over the time away with some 45 movies or TV shows in the last seven days that I watched. As always, here are ten I decided to remark on.

The Walk
This is less of a movie and more of an experience. Based on the box office results, you won't have long to see this and even less time to see it on a really big screen. I recommend going out and seeing it now. It's not the kind of movie that will play as well at home.

American Horror Story: Hotel "Checking In"
I've never watched any of the American Horror Stories before. Curiosity, Lady Gaga, and the fact that if I'm watching Scream Queens already, I'm in for a penny, in for a pound led me to committing to this season. The thing that is immediately clear is that this is all style over substance. I don't mean that as a bad thing necessarily. I watched the introduction segment for Gaga and Matt Bomer twice entirely because of the style. If the direction, cinematography, and production design are always this interesting, it won't matter what the writing does (similar to how I soaked in every second of Hannibal, even when the writing was at its most opaque).

Sicario
I feel bad that I wanted to like this movie more than I ended up liking it. It's similar to how I was with 12 Years a Slave: It's a very well made movie, but all very familiar. There's certainly worse things that could be said about a movie than "It was executed well".

The Middle “The Shirt”
This mid-life crisis story for Mike has a lot of potential. The Middle is a very patient show. Mike is so firmly established at this point that really even the smallest changes in his personality are filled with possibilities.
A smaller detail in the episode that did a lot for me was Brick, Sue, and Axl's phone ritual for communicating. I like that the show isn't trying to distance them (Brick has a lot of potential to be on his own show most of the time a la Winston on New Girl). So, the fact that he can get both siblings on the phone so easily (which is something that's been established in the past) is a nice sign of their bond. I'm predicting there will be a Brick solo-visit to Axl and Sue's school by the season's end.
Finally, I'll ask for this now: Odds that Axl and Devin's open relation ship will crumble? Odds that Sue's roommate will be involved? Odds that this is all a way for the show to move from Gia Mantegna to Lyndon Smith?

Saturday Night Live "Amy Schumer/The Weeknd"
Schumer was a solid host. I would've put money on this being a return of the Pornstars sketch, but I was wrong, in that they just did a different kind of pornstar sketch instead.
What is going on with Weekend Update? Jost and Che are great together at this point. I fully approve of moving Strong from the desk now. The guests are awful though. Both of them this week fell flat and it's worrisome that the best characters in the current roster are Leslie and Pete playing themselves.

The Last Man on Earth “Dead Man Walking”
I'm continually nervous about this show. I like that Phil/Tandy is an idiot and is destined to repeatedly make things worse for himself. He got to such an unlikable level last season though, that I'm in constant fear of a relapse. As long as the show doesn't turn back into him ruining everything for everyone always while trying to sleep with all the women, I'm excited for what comes next.

The Walking Dead “First Time Again”
Am I the only one who would've preferred this episode told in order? I know, it lacked the big moment at the beginning that pulls you in, but otherwise, it's so much better in order. As it was, I was disoriented at the beginning, attempting to recall where we left off and what was happening. Maybe the plan wouldn't've seemed as convoluted if the writers weren't so busy writing around details in order to service the dual timeline structure. Make no mistake, I was very impressed by the production and a lot of what was happening with the characters was interesting. That structure got in the way though. In general, I'll admit that I don't respond to the experimental episodes of the show very well.

The Leftovers "A Matter of Geography"
People never talk about how funny this show is. It's dark comedy, sure. The dramatic beats certainly demand more of the attention. But it's still very funny. The confession scene in the living room at the beginning. Nora disappearing to buy a house. Patty's "What the fuck was that?" after Kevin is freed from police custody. I laugh a lot watching this.

The Truth About Cats and Dogs
I'm pretty sure I've never seen this before yet it was a completely familiar movie. I tend be turned off by this level of farce, but I found this completely entertaining.

Fargo "Waiting for Dutch"
Another strong start for this wonderful show. It's already looking like it learned lessons from its first season that the second season of True Detective didn't.

Weekly Ten: 9/28-10/5

A good and busy week of movies and TV. Even with this week off, I'll still having trouble getting these Weekly posts up in time. I'm just lazy, I guess.

Fresh Off the Boat "Boy II Man"
I'm not sure which was better: Jessica's horrifying story about the vegetable babies or all the men at the table singing Boys II Men.

The Middle "Cutting the Cord"
That ending was so sweet, Axl checking in on Sue unprompted. At first I worried that another kid out of the house would kill the show's balance. That's true, but the new balance at the Heck house and on campus is looking pretty good too.

Review "Conspiracy Theory"
That was a nice way of wrapping the whole season up. I really thought Grant was a bad-guy until this episode, so now I feel stupid.

The Cutting Edge
This was a far more enjoyable movie than I expected. It's nice that I still have some like that left in my Club 50 list.

Saturday Night Live "Miley Cyrus"
Based on this episode, I imagine the writers of SNL all summer pissed off that they couldn't be on the air sooner for all the Donald Trump jokes. Miley isn't a bad host, but I certainly think she's there more to move the needle than because they think she's so great.

Fear the Walking Dead "The Good Man"
This show didn't even have one really good episode to keep me engaged like the parent show did in the first season. I'll keep watching into season two. It is rather alarming though that so few lessons have been learned about pacing and building characters.

The Iron Giant
A friend tipped me off about a Fathom event screening of this and I'm so glad he did. It had been a while since I'd seen this and it looked great on a big screen.

The Martian
Such a good movie. I feel like I need to hold off talking about it for now to avoid using hyperbole about it. I really enjoyed it though.

The Leftovers "Axis Mundi"
I don't really get that opening, although I'm pretty sure I'm looming at it like there's more to it than there really is. Jarden is going to be a very interesting new setting.

The Last Man on Earth "The Boo"
Just as soon as it looked like it was going to zig into the "lying Phil" territory from season one that annoyed me, it zagged into good character moments instead. The Will Ferrell cameo was unexpected, but I always welcome Will Ferrell showing up in things.

Movie Reaction: The Martian

Formula: Mission to Mars - everything bad about Mission to Mars

Why I Saw It: Why Wouldn't I?

Cast: So many good people. Matt Damon at the center, and...just everyone. Chiwetel Ejoifor, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Mackenzie Davis, Donald Glover, Kate Mara, and, uh, others too. A lot of people wanted in on this.

Plot: On a mission to Mars, a NASA team is forced to make an emergency evacuation, accidentally leaving behind one of the crew , Mark Watney (Damon). He has to find a way to survive while the crew and every available body on Earth figure out a way to get him back.

Thoughts:
I loved this movie on nearly every level. It's been a while since Ridley Scott was on his game at this level. It looks fantastic. It doesn't talk down to the audience at any point. There aren't easy fixes to things. Drew Goddard's script is constantly hilarious without undercutting the stakes. I was at the edge of my seat more than once. It's the kind of movie where one character uses the phrase "as long as something bad doesn't happen", which all but guarantees something bad happens in the next scene and I was still completely sucked in (hehe).
This is a crowd-pleaser of the highest caliber. At a couple different point, my theater was on the verge of breaking into applause. I'm pretty sure the only reason it didn't happen was because no one knew if we were done.
This is some of the best work from nearly everyone in the cast. Damon is completely captivating in a mostly one-man show. Kristen Wiig is marvelously restrained. Jessica Chastain is far superior here to in Interstellar, Mackenzie Davis manages to avoid turning into Cameron from Halt and Catch Fire. Ojiofor should be in everything. Pena is a scene stealer in yet another movie. Donald Glover does a great deal with only a few scenes.
I'm all over the place with the praise because I don't know where to start or stop with it. The only reason I'm not immediately calling this movie my favorite of the year is because 1) the year isn't over and 2) 2015 has been a ridiculously strong year.

Elephant in the Room: Matt Damon is really turning me off these days. I learned long ago that you have to separate the actor from the work. It's the only way I can watch and love Tom Cruise movies. If Matt Damon's recent quotes are the your only reason for not wanting to see this, I implore you to reconsider.

To Sum Things Up:
This exceeded my expectations all-around with a strong script, expert directions, deep and talented cast, and excellent technical work (sound, visual-effects, etc.). I'm still riding a high from seeing it, so I'm going to try and calm down now.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Fletch

What I Guessed It Was About: Fletch is some sort of investigator investigating something. He's really good at either dressing up as different characters or imagining things.

How I Came Into It: This is the most fiercely Chevy Chase role there is. I kind of knew most of the best gags thanks to I Love the 80's. There wasn't much to the movie left unexplored before I saw it.

Why I Saw It: I'm such a big fan of Community, that I tend to forget about vintage Chevy Chase. When he was the comedy golden child, he put out some good product. This, with the costumes, physical comedy, and dry jokes features all of Chase's favorite and best traits.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I don't like to mix my dry humor with absurdest humor. I'll take "They say taupe is very soothing" over "I speak jive" any day of the week. That's a matter of taste though. What hurt my experience the most was knowing so many of the jokes beforehand. I didn't realize I knew the movie so well already until I started watching it and my brain started stepping on all the jokes.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: A Nightmare on Elm Street

What I Guessed It Was About: Kids in Everytown, USA start getting murdered in their sleep by a creepy dude named Freddy Kruger. Some girl learns how to battle him.

How I Came Into It: This is an incredibly prolific franchise. Oddly enough, I hadn't seen any of them before this. I needed to know what it's all about, and I might as well start at the beginning: the one with Johnny Depp.

Why I Saw It: I can see why this franchise was so popular. It's a simple concept. Freddy is a good villain. The movie is short and to the point.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The effects don't age very well. This is more campy by now than it is scary. The incredible thing is that this was the third movie Wes Craven directed for that year. That makes sense because it looks like it was quickly produced.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

October Movie Preview

Thanks god it's October. This has been a long stretch of mediocre movies. When The Man From UNCLE is the highlight of the last two months, that's not good. October is looking good enough to make up for that. Prestige movies, blockbusters, exciting limited releases, escapist fun, solid scares. It's got them all. I'm going to have a tough time not doubling or tripling up a weekend or two. And that's just preamble to a great looking November and a December that's got a new Star Wars movie. 2015 is ending just fine.

2015

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sept 

2014

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2013

Mar |  Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

10/2

The Martian
Working For It: Matt Damon plays an astronaut accidentally stranded on Mars and how he has to survive until a rescue party returns to get him. It's got a crazy-good cast including Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Chiwetel Ojiofor, Donald Glover, and many others. It looks like Interstellar meets Gravity, which is more than good enough for me.
Working Against It: “Directed by Ridley Scott” is not the selling point that it once was. Exodus was pretty bad and Prometheus was moderate at best. Scott's not that far removed from good work though, and I haven't heard a negative review yet.
Interest Level: Top tier

He Named Me Malala
Working For It: It's a documentary about Nobel Prize Winner Malal Yousafzai. All I really know about her is that she got the Nobel prize, so this could be a good learning experience.
Working Against It: As a documentary subject, I'm not pulled toward Malala. I know enough to know that this is a surface-level story. I'm in no hurry on this.
Interest Level: Lowish

The Walk (IMAX)
Working For It: I get vertigo just watching the trailer. It's the story of Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers in the 70s. Anyone smart enough to have seen the documentary Man on Wire knows that this is a good story and Robert Zemeckis is sure to bring the spectacle. You better believe I'll be looking to see this on the biggest screen I can find.
Working Against It: There's a slight concern that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's accent is a little on the absurd side (If you listen to Petit in interviews, you realize that it's not exaggerated though).
Interest Level: Highest possible

Freeheld (Limited)
Working For It: Julianne Moore and Ellen Page play a couple trying to get one another's benefits after one is diagnosed with cancer. It certainly sounds like an Oscar player for the acting roles.
Working Against It: I worry that this will be like Still Alice in that it'll have great performances but struggle to find enough material without getting repetitive.
Interest Level: Fair

Shanghai (Limtied)
Working For It: Apparently, this John Cusack, Yun-Fat Chow, David Morse movie has been in production hell since 2008. I have no idea what it's about, but any movie with that much history is worth looking at, for train-wreck reasons if nothing else.
Working Against It: Nothing is worth this long a wait.
Interest Level: Considerably low.

10/9

Pan
Working For It: It's a live-action Peter Pan origin story starring Hugh Jackman, Rooney Mara, and others. It looks like a fresh perspective on a story that I already quite enjoy.
Working Against It: I haven't been crazy about any of Joe Wright's movies (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, etc.). Mostly though, I have no desire to see this. I can't place exactly why. I just don't. I'd rather just watch Finding Neverland again.
Interest Level: Low

Steve Jobs (Limited)
Working For It: Directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle. Written by Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin. Starring the always great Michael Fassbender as the modern legend, Steve Jobs. It's got Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels. This is dripping with prestige.
Working Against It: I don't subscribe to the Gospel of Jobs, so there's a chance this will have the same “too soon” feeling of The Social Network.
Interest Level: Pretty High

The Final Girls
Working For It: This is sort of a horror-comedy about a girl pulled into 80s slasher movies. Vera Farmiga's daughter Taissa is at the center of an eclectic “TV person cast” including Malin Akerman, Adam DeVine (Woraholics), Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), and Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development). And, it's the director's first feature since A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas.
Working Against It: There's a lot of way this movie can go wrong. So, so many.
Interest Level: Cautiously moderate.

10/16

Bridge of Spies
Working For It: Directed by Steven Spielberg. Co-written by the Coen brothers. Starring Tom Hanks. Period piece. What's not to be excited about?
Working Against It: Hmm. The last Spielberg movie I didn't like...Indiana Jones 4. But that's not on him...The Terminal wasn't great, but I still likes it. Amistad? Perhaps. Geez, I feel pretty confident about this.
Interest Level: Quite high.

Crimson Peak
Working For It: This Guillermo del Toro horror movie looks gorgeous. This is the second Jessica Chastain movie I'm certain to see this month, not to mention Loki, Alice, and Jax.
Working Against It: Honestly, looking at del Toro's credits as a director, I'm not a huge fan all-around. Sure, Pacific Rim was great and I wouldn't dare argue again Pan's Labyrinth. I can't defend Blade II or Hellboy II quite as much. Obviously, those were sequels though. Crimson Peak is del Toro as master of his own fate.
Interest Level: Way up there. Only to be missed because so many good things are coming out this month.

Goosebumps
Working For It: Jack Black leads a children's horror comedy based on the book series that dominated my grade school years. That's a lot working for it right there.
Working Against It: This is the third most interesting nationwide release this weekend alone. Those are tough numbers to beat.
Interest Level: Moderate

Truth (Limited)
Working For It: Cate Blanchett is back in Oscar discussion what looks like the second best newsroom movie based on something that happened in the early 2000s this fall. It's also got Elisabeth Moss and Robert Redford though. So, there's that.
Working Against It: It's a movie about the 60 Minutes investigation that dug into George W. Bush's military experience. That sounds a bit more political than I care to see. Give Bush at least a decade before you start going after him. It's too easy still.
Interest Level: Decidedly low.

Room (Limited)
Working For It: Brie Lason plays a mother who has been trapped in a room with her son by the father of said son for several years. They escape and try to make sense of the outside world. Word is, Larson is great in this. I just watched Short Term 12, so I don't have any trouble believing that.
Working Against It: Not much other than a lack of nationwide expansion and a glut of options.
Interest Level: Up there

10/23

Burnt
Working For It: It's Kitchen Confidential: The Movie, putting Bradley Cooper back in the kitchen. That's kind of cool.
Working Against It: John Wells' last movie, August: Osage County, was underwhelming. This movie looks like it's not aspiring to much and I will give it attention accordingly. I only even brought this up so I could mention the Kitchen Confidential thing.
Interest Level: Fairly non-existent

Jem and the Holograms
Working For It: Remember Jem, the animated series? God, nostalgia is a powerful thing. And hey, they got Molly Ringwald, because when you're in the business of taking things from the 80s, why not get Molly Ringwald?
Working Against It: This looks misguided and definitely not targeted to me or my interests.
Interest Level: Very low

The Last Witch Hunter
Working For It: Vin Diesel is "The Last Witch Hunter".
Working Against It: If that last thing doesn't have you on board already, then adding "From the director of Sahara" sure isn't going to help.
Interest Level: Not quite there

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
Working For It: I'm hopelessly in the tank for the Paranormal Activity franchise. They get more convoluted with each movie and I simply don't care. As long as there are some effective scares and it doesn't get too bogged down in mythology, I'm giving it a chance.
Working Against It: Most people are more tired of these movies than I am.
Interest Level: Higher than it should be.

Rock the Kasbah
Working For It: It's a Barry Levinson movie starring Bill Murray as a music manager who discovers a talented young singer or something.
Working Against It: I've seen a lot of Barry Levinson movies it turns out, and it's been nearly 30 years since I really liked one. Ok, I guess Envy was fine.
Interest Level: Low

Suffragette (Limited)
Working For It: Carey Mulligan doesn't make enough movies, so I'm at least curious whenever I hear about a new one with her. One with Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep certainly has my attention. I'm embarrassingly under-educated on the women's suffragette movement, so this could be a good way in.
Working Against It: I've been hearing the same "good acting, disappointing movie" whispers that a lot of movies run into this time of year. If this doesn't even play into the Oscar discussion despite this cast, that will be a big warning sign.
Interest Level: Lower that it should be.

10/30

Autobahn
Working For It: What started as a Zac Efron/Amber Heard movie is now a Nicholas Hoult/Felicity Jones movie. That's an upgrade. I'd call the casting of Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley a good sign too, but both have a history of being in occasional bad movies just for the fun of it.
Working Against It: I have zero knowledge of what this is about. I have a title and a cast. If I see this, I imagine it will be for the cast.
Interest Level: Undetermined, but probably not that high

Our Brand is Crisis
Working For It: It's a Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton movie about American political strategists running a South American election. I think it's more of a comedy, which fits director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Your Highness) better.
Working Against It: Green also made The Sitter and Prince Avalanche more recently. Sandra Bullock isn't always great at knowing which projects to avoid, so she's not a guarantee of quality the way I'd like to believe.
Interest Level: Somewhat Low

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
Working For It: The title doesn't leave a lot of mystery. It's exactly what it sounds like.
Working Against It: It's starring Patrick Schwarzenegger. Should I know him as anything other than his father's son?
Interest Level: Very Low