March Movies
I’m not sure how to categorize
March, there are no Marvel releases, so the film industry does not consider it
summer yet, but there is definitely a movie or two coming out that is expected
to get back some money.
March 6
Chappie – In the future, we’ll
all have robots and soon after, they’ll start making decisions of their own.
I’ve accepted this and you should too. This is the story of Chappie, the first
free thinking robot who has the mind of a child and somehow winds up hanging
with a bunch of gangsters. From the writer/director of District 9 and Elysium
comes another film about a lesser beings (none of his leads are fully human)
fighting an oppressive government. This guy likes his visuals and his complex
action sequences, so hopefully he’s 3 for 3.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold
Hotel – I saw the first one on a plane, I think it was the perfect plane movie.
It was about a delightful group of old British people spending time at a
delightfully run down hotel in India. The hotel was run by a delightfully
inexperienced young kid. This looks to be more of the same, but they threw in
Richard Gere to mix things up. Not sure if he has that swagger that made him a
thing in the late 80’s but I can assume this movie will be delightful.
Unfinished Business – After the
domestic box office failure that was The Internship (I didn’t mind it), Vince
Vaughn has returned to R-Rated territory where he belongs. In this film, him
and Dave (little James) Franco and Tom Wilkinson (who was in the first Exotic
Marigold Hotel and Grand Budapest Hotel and I bet he’s in a hotel in this)
travel to Europe to close a deal for their small business. Something tells me
the plot takes a backseat to the ridiculous hijinks that probably ensues once
this group gets drunk.
Merchants of Doubt – The Oscar
nominated director of Food Inc, which tackled the subject of the corporate
owned food industry now has a new target. This time he focuses on those who
present themselves as experts on certain hot button issues and are then hired
by corporations to speak on topics like climate change, pharmaceuticals toxic
chemicals, etc. I’m sure that the most recent hot topic of vaccinations come
up, so if you want to ruin your next dinner party with a politically charged
debate, see this.
March 13
Cinderella – I feel like I just
heard about this film a week ago. I thought a live action remaking of a Disney
film would be a bigger deal, but I guess we’ve been over saturated with this
stuff as of late. The Wizard of Oz prequel (a.k.a James Franco in a hat) was a
mess and Alice in Wonderland (a.k.a Johnny Depp in a hat) wasn’t anything to
write home about. Don’t let me undersell something I know nothing about.
Kenneth Branagh is the director of the classic tale, which means it will look
good. The actor who played Robb Stark on Game of Thrones plays Prince Charming,
which means he will make foolish decisions damning his whole family to a
horrifying life of double crosses. That is unless they stick with the
previously written source material. Is it too obvious that I remember very
little about Cinderella? This was the one with the evil step family right?
Run All Night – This is more my
speed. In his later years, Liam Neeson has become the everyman action hero, who
has a few surprises up his sleeve. When he saves his son from a killer, he goes
to tell that killers father, an old associate, what he has done. The old
associate, played by Ed Harris, responds by sending an army of gunmen after the
once distant, father and son duo. On top of this, the police are, of course,
also after them and the trailer, and title for that matter, leads one to
believe that all of this takes place over one wild night.
March 20
Insurgent – Yes it’s another film
based on another young adult novel. The first film is not bad and if the second
does a decent job continuing the story the first set up then I for one am
looking forward to it. There are similarities to Hunger Games like the young
female lead, overpowering government, small roles played by famous people,
social hierarchy, but it’s different enough to entertain and there is plenty of
action.
The Gunman – Since Liam Neeson
was busy making Run All Night, we now have Sean Penn as the gun toting good guy
in a film from the director of the original Taken. I have no doubt Sean Penn
can carry an action film (he never has before), but to help him out he also has
Javier Bardem, Idris Elba and Ray Winstone. All of these guys are awesome,
serious actors who can turn an ordinary film into something better by just
standing there. I think there’s enough going on here to make a cool movie.
March 27
Get Hard – If you’ve watched T.V.
recently, you’ve probably seen Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart hanging out - this
is why. They both star in this film about Ferrell as a millionaire being sent
to prison for fraud and get help from Hart on how to prepare him for what prison
has in store for him. So far there have been three types of prison films: the
over the top action packed ones, the academy award nominated darker ones, and
the funny yet awkward ones. This one probably falls under that third category.
Serena – When I see names like
Bradley Copper and Jennifer Lawrence, I get intrigued because those are both
pretty huge names right now and then I read the plot and I began to get sleepy
from boredom. Bradley Cooper owns a timber business in Depression-era North
Carolina and things get complicated when he marries Jennifer Lawrence. Anything
depression era immediately leads one to assume this could be a sad movie and
judging by early reviews, it certainly is.
Home – Jim Parsons voices an
alien named Oh who is kicked off his home planet for continually messing things
up and finds himself on Earth and befriends Rihanna. Well it’s a character
voiced by Rihanna, but I think it would be more interesting if it were Rihanna.
The movie is based on a kids story called “The True Meaning of Smekday” and Steve
Martin voices someone named Captain Smek, so that’s good because when was the
last time you heard his name?
