Month: October 2017

Box Office Weekend: Friday, October 27

October 27, 2017October 25, 2017 · Leave a comment ·

As expected, Madea squashed the box office last weekened. Can she outwit the competition? Probably. No one liked The Snowman. This week my pick is Suburbicon; I would recommend Brimstone & Glory to the general public, while cautioning against Amityville: The Awakening and Jigsaw. (All I See Is You is apparently not as bad as expected.)

Amityville: The Awakening is a direct sequel to 1979’s The Amityville Horror and the 10th installment in the Amityville series. A teenager moves into the haunted house on Long Island in the 1970s. The film, made in 2014, and delayed until now, stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bella Thorne. A reminder that Ronald DeFeo, Jr. committed familicide (of real people! SIX PEOPLE!) in 1974. The house on Ocean Avenue was knocked down long before long-faced Bella Thorne could have moved in. And every goth teenager in America saw the 2005-remake AND KNOWS THE STORY. (I can’t believe I’m this bothered, either!)

Jigsaw is a movie all about the bad guy from Saw. Earlier this week I was chatting with a peer about Hostel, and I just can’t fathom that Eli Roth paved the way for this crap.

All I See is You stars Blake Lively as a blind woman who regains her sight and begins to realize that all is not what it seems! Maybe her husband is controlling and bad! Maybe he’s just not as handsome as she thought.

Novitiate stars Margaret Qualley, Melissa Leo, Morgan Saylor, and Dianna Agron. A young woman, raised in 1960s Texas by an agnostic, single mother, joins the convent at what she claims is the urging of God. But following Vatican II, and the actions of the head nun, she begins to question her devotion.

Thank You For Your Service stars Miles Teller in this military drama. That this has overlap with Lone Survivor and Sniper should be enough to tell you to look the other way. And how is it that America keeps producing and releasing these war movies but we haven’t taken to the streets to demand the end of the wars? Somehow you just know this film is going to glorify the violence, strife, and killing, without the empathy of actual sacrifice, despite the alleged empathy of the trailer.

Suburbicon is directed by complicit man George Clooney and stars complicit man Matt Damon, which is a damn shame because the script was written by Clooney, Teddy Schwarzman, and Joel and Ethan Cohen. It’s another Cohen return to The Wrong Man trope, and that’s totally man jam!

The Square is a dark comedy from Ruben Östlund (Force Majeure) and stars Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, and Terry Notary. An art curator, who seems like a real dick, finds his world in total chaos after his phone is stolen.

Brimstone & Glory is a documentary about the National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico.

The Divine Order is a Swiss drama about a woman fighting for women’s equality in 1971.

https://www.fandango.com/videos/player/1044101187725?genre=Drama&rt=0&plc=0
Félicité is a Senegalese drama film directed by Alain Gomis. It follows a strong-willed woman, a singer and bar entertainer, who must raise funds for her son’s health care. The film received six awards at the African Academy Awards, a record, and has been submitted to the Academy Awards; it is Senegal’s first submission.

Crash Pad stars Domnhall Gleason as a “hopeless romantic” (a real Nice Guy) who falls in love with an older woman and is crushed to learn that he is an “instrument of revenge.” Sigh.

Let There Be Light is this week’s Christian film, but there’s no doubt, like, since it stars Kevin Sorbo.

Mansfield 66/67 is a documentary about the last years of Jayne Mansfield’s life. Unfortunately the documentary “asks” if her “life spiraled out of control” because of her alleged relationship with the Church of Satan, and that just seems…unfair.

Maya Dardel stars Lena Olin as an aging poet who announces, on NPR, that she will bequeath her entire estate to a young, male, poet. Things spiral before she disappears.

Acts Of Vengeance stars Antonio Banderas as a lawyer who vows to avenge the murder of his wife and daughter.

The Truth About Lies is a truly original romantic comedy about a total loser who tells a string of lies so he can get a job and sleep with a beautiful woman.

Flesh and Blood is a film directed by, and starring, Marc Webber. It is loosely inspired by his own family.

Weekend Box Office: October 20, 2017

October 21, 2017 · Leave a comment ·

Happy Death Day is killing it at the box office, but this weekend Madea is poised to squash the competition.

Aida’s Secrets is about the difficult reunion of two brothers when one reconnects with his biological family.

A Silent Voice: The Movie
A Silent Voice: The Movie is an animated Japanese film about bulying.

BPM (Beats Per Minute) is a french drama about the France arm of ACT Up. The film is set in the 1990s.

Dealt is a documentary about Richard Turner, a card magician.

Golmaal Again stars Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn.

Heal is a documentary about self-healing bodies.

Insidious: The Last Key is the fourth installment of the insufferable Insidious franchise.

Jane is a documentary about Jane Goodall.

Jungle stars Daniel Radcliffe as an obnoxious tourist who gets lost in the Amazon. Based on Yossi Ghinsberg’s true story of survival.

Killing Gunther is a comedy from Taran Killam; Arnold Schwarzeneger is the world’s best hitman, who is marked but indestructable.

Kills On Wheels is a Hungarian dark comedy about two teenage boys who break out of their humdrum existence when they become hitmen.

Leatherface is a horror film about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Assailant when he was a teenager.

Never Here is a psychological horror film about a photographer who follows strangers (for art) and soon realizes she is being followed. Starring Mireille Enos and Sam Shepard.

Only The Brave is a drama about the Granite Mountain Hot Shots. 19 members of the group died in 2013 battling the Yarnell Hill Fire.

RV: Resurrected Victims is a South Korean thriller about murder victims who rise from the dead to avenge their deaths!

Tempestad is a Mexican film about women on a journey following loss, pain, and government corruption.

The Bachelors stars stars J. K. Simmons, Julie Delpy, Josh Wiggins, and Odeya Rush.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a psychological horror film from Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster). It stars Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman, and shit will probably get weird.

The Snowman is based on the hit thriller by Jo Nesbø and stars Michael Fassbender as a detective looking for a serial killer who incases his victims (WOMEN, ALWAYS WOMEN) in snow.

The Strange Ones stars Alex Pettyfer. Two strangers discover dark secrets on vacation.

The War With Grandpa stars Robert DeNiro as an old man who takes a kid’s bedroom. Based on a youth novel. Trailer unavailable at press time.

Tragedy Girls is a Weinstein Media release about two unpopular girls who go on a killing spree to build their blog and social media presence.

Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween stars Tyler Perry as Madea, and she’s not taking your horror movie shit, that’s for sure.

Where’s The Money stars Andrew Bachelor, Kat Graham, Logan Paul, Terry Crews, Mike Epps, Method Man, and Josh Brener. A man rushes a fraternity to obtain the money hidden in its walls. There’s always money in the frat house!

Wonderstruck stars Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore, and is based on the 2011 illustrated by Brian Selznick. Selznick wrote the screenplay for the film, which is directed by Todd Haynes (Carol). The film follows two runaways in New York, one in 1977 and one ins 1927. My heart is broken already.

Weekend Box Office: October 13, 2017

October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 · Leave a comment ·

breathOh my. I returned and then promptly dropped the ball. Here are this week’s releases plus trailers for the movies that were missed.

THIS WEEK

6 Below: Miracle On The Mountain stars Josh Hartnett as a professional hockey player who goes snowboarding to Find Himself and ends up stranded in an avalanche. One assumes this film is served with a side of Jesus and “based on a true story.” DVD release for November 14!

78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene is a documentary about how The Shower Scene in Psycho impacted the film industry.

American Satan is a drama? film about an English-American band who makes a deal with the devil for their survival on the Sunset Strip. Denise Richards, Booboo Stewart, and Malcolm McDowell star. I like how they made Andy Biersack look like a young Billy Martin.

Bad Blood: The Movie is a horror movie about a woman who is mutated by a frog and destroys her…town? when she becomes one as well?

Deliver Us is a documentary about the possessed!

For Ahkeem is a documentary about a teenage girl, Daje Shelton, and her life in north St. Louis, one year before the death of Michael Brown.

Gnome Alone is an animated film about a girl who moves into a house occupied by gnomes. With voices from Becky G, Josh Peck, Olivia Holt, George Lopez, Patrick Stump, and David Koechner.

Happy Death Day is this week’s big horror release. A teenage girl wakes up on her birthday and is murdered. Like Groundhog Day, the horror resets each day.

How To Break Up With Your Douchebag is a Spanish comedy about a therapist who specializes in helping women break up with their partners…only to fall in love with a jerk.

Marshall is a biopic about Thurgood Marshall. Starring Chadwick Boseman, the film looks at Marshall’s early cases (defending a young, Black boy—whose parents are played by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, Trayvon Martin’s parents), before he became the country’s first Black Supreme Court Justice.

Professor Marston & The Wonder Women is the dramatic re-telling of the invention and influences of the Wonder Woman comics. Starring Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote, and Connie Britton.

Swing Away stars Shannon Elizabeth as a professional golfer who escapes to Greece following a break down and subsequently mentors a young girl.

The Foreigner stars Jackie Chan as a humble businessman who hunts down the men who killed his daughter (because he couldn’t get justice!) He is pursued by The Man, played by Pierce Brosnan. It looks like a less infuriating Taken.

The Secret Scripture stars Rooney Mara and Vanessa Redgrave as a woman who has been indefinitiely hospitalized. Directed by Jim Sheridan and based on the novel of the same name.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri stars Frances McDormand as a woman who pays for billboard on the edge of her small town to condemn an ineffective police following the death of her daughter.