I'm sure 20 years ago Seth Rogen
would have found the idea of him starring in a movie with Charlize Theron quite
the Long Shot, let alone romantic comedy, but here we are. Theron
is on the road to being the next President and Rogen is a journalist. She also
used to be his babysitter. They reconnect years later and she invites him to be
her speechwriter. This is a romantic comedy, so of course there's more than
just a professional connection between the two leads. This could be good
because the director also did 50/50, The Night Before, The
Wackness and Warm Bodies, which each take a subject that's been done
before, and his casual approach makes it all more endearing.
I was just old enough to enjoy
Pokemon, that or my friends were too old for it but enjoyed it anyway. I, on
the other hand, just never connected with it. I knew it was about a bunch of
creatures who humans collect and then force into battle and they can only say
their own names (or some variant of it, for example Pikachu can say Pika as
well as Pikachu). Typing it out, it kind of sounds messed up. Since I never got
into it as a teen I never thought I would be excited about a movie based on
these characters, but Detective Pikachu has my attention. Taking
place in the world where humans and Pokemon co-exist, a man’s mentor goes
missing. While on the trail he comes across a Pikachu, a little yellow creature
who shoots lightning, who is also investigating the disappearance and it he
finds that he, and only he, can understand the creature. To appeal to everyone not interested in
Pokemon, it's voiced by Ryan Reynolds. The creatures look pretty great and it
looks like the movie is full of them. I'm not familiar with all of their powers
but I have to imagine fans of the card trading/video game series will be
looking forward to seeing their favorites on the big screen.
Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson take
over for Michael Caine and Steve Martin in the remake of Dirty Rotten
Scoundrels (itself a remake of Bedtime Story) entitled The
Hustle. The first two iterations focused on two con men, one rich and
one not, trying to steal from a rich woman. In each, the two con men are in
competition. This remake does have Hathaway living the high life and Wilson
hiding out in a pile of trash bags, but it does away with the competitive
nature and has the two team up to take down rich men who have it coming.
In John Wick, Keanu Reeves
plays a retired and recently widowed assassin who goes on a warpath after some
criminals break into his house, steal his car and kill his dog. After taking
out those responsible, and their army of body guards, it becomes clear to the
underworld that John Wick is no longer retired. Because of this, an old
acquaintance forces him into carrying out an assassination in John Wick:
Chapter 2. After carrying out the mission, he is betrayed and has to
survive against every killer after the multi-million dollar bounty on his head.
In the end he takes out everyone out to kill him and the man who betrayed him.
Unfortunately he killed the man on Continental grounds, the private assassin
club and hotel where no violence is allowed, and now every other assassin in
the world who wants $14 million is after him in John Wick: Chapter 3 -
Parabellum. In 1 and 2 Wick had friends and resources to rely on but
after breaking Continental rules, those friends and resources become slim and
the chance of dying becomes high. I really enjoy this series. I originally
predicted this would be the last Wick movie but I hope we get more and
more.
I have yet to see any of the Disney
live action remakes (unless you count The Jungle Book and 101
Dalmatians from 20+ years ago) but I hope Aladdin revives
Will Smith's and Guy Ritchie's careers. To me it looks like a shot for shot
remake (much like the upcoming Lion King), which is frustrating because
it is literally a world full of magic and wonder so there is plenty more to do
than follow the familiar story beats. The director got his start making British
crime comedies so I'm hoping there's more attention paid to Aladdin's time as a
thief on the streets. If that isn't the case then I'm just glad the genie is
played by Will Smith. He's been in so many straight and serious roles recently
that it will be nice to see him in something where he can be charismatic and
energetic.
James Gunn may be known for writing
and directing Guardians of the Galaxy, but he's been in the movie
superhero business for nearly 20 years. In 2000 he wrote low budget superhero
movie called The Specials, which has a pretty decent cast but was
quickly forgotten. Then in 2010 he wrote and directed his own superhero movie
simply called Super. It came out when PG-13 superhero movies were really
taking off and got some attention for being different as it was hard R and as
funny as it was violent. This lead to him getting the Guardians gig,
which was a hit, as was its sequel. I'll skip over all the gritty and
disappointing details but he was then fired from Guardians 3, then hired
to do Suicide Squad 2 and then re-hired to do Guardians 3. In
between all of this he produced a dark version of the Superman story
written by his brothers. Brightburn plays with our expectations
by having a baby from another world crash land in middle America, raised by
loving parents, grow up in a small town, learn his powers as a young man but
then use them to be evil. This will be the superhero movie that people who don't
care for superhero movies might want to see this summer.
Godzilla and friends have been ruling the cinemas for 65 years. The
gigantic creature from Japan is probably one of the most iconic movie monsters
ever. 20 years ago, America took a crack at it with the silly Matthew Broderick
starring Godzilla that is remembered only for its awesome soundtrack.
America gave it another shot back in 2014 and that had a more dramatic, yet
equally destructive, approach than the '98 mess. In it, Godzilla is a
monster but he's not out to harm humanity, in fact he is protecting humanity
from a giant flying creature that is feeding on nuclear material. It's a pretty
good movie but people wanted to see more monsters. In the end credits of Kong:
Skull Island, it was revealed to be a prequel to Godzilla and we saw
glimpses of creatures like Mothra, Rhodan and King Ghidrorah, who will do
battle in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The movie will have
catastrophic events occurring world over and it is discovered that underneath
the ground, there are monsters waiting for their time to rise and only Godzilla
can protect us. This will feature some epic battles with some
legendary and beautifully rendered creatures and if all goes to plan, we will
have Godzilla vs. Kong next year!
The popularity of Bohemian
Rhapsody was certainly going to kick start an interest in biographical
movies about other musicians. Dexter Fletcher, once British character actor now
director, was brought on to Rhapsody when the original director was
fired. Unfortunately the original director is still credited, but on the upside
Fletcher was given the job of directing the Elton John biopic Rocketman.
The actor playing Elton John will be Taron Egerton, who actually acted
alongside Elton John is Kingsman: The Golden Circle, where Sir Elton
played himself in a comical role as a famous kidnap victim. Like Rhapsody, this
will focus on the artist’s rise to fame, family, friends and contributions to
music history.
After winning an Oscar for The
Help, it wouldn't be too hard to believe that Octavia Spencer would work
with the same director again. What it surprising is their new movie is a horror movie
from a writer of the show Workaholics and produced by Jason Blum, whose
career has been going strong since the Paranormal Activity series was a
hit. The back to back Oscar nominations for BlacKkKlansman and Get
Out didn't hurt either. When a group of young teens ask Ma,
Spencer, if she'll buy them alcohol for a party, she's reluctant but gives in.
She then invites them back to her place as a place for them to drink and hang
out where they have less a chance of getting in too much trouble. Soon all the
local kids are hanging out and everyone loves Ma, but for some
reason no one is allowed upstairs. And then she suddenly has all of their phone
numbers. And potentially drugs them. And things only get weirder from there. I
like when actors take a step out of their wheelhouse and do work in horror or
action and Spencer looks like she's having a great time in this horror role.
High
school party comedies are nothing new, but that doesn't mean that there isn't
something to add to the genre and Olivia Wilde's directorial debut about two Booksmart
teens looks fun. After years of playing by the rules and getting accepted to
the colleges they wanted to get into, two best friends realize that the night
before they graduate will be the night they do things differently.
They'll go to parties, steal cars and get arrested. Maybe not what everyone
does before they graduate but it certainly would make for a memorable time.
