March

There is no shortage of action and adventure this March and more than a few movies involve traveling to different worlds.

In the late 90's there was a movie called Hard Rain where an armored car driver went up against thieves during a massive rainstorm. The Hurricane Heist takes that concept and injects a little Fast and Furious in there since it's from the director of the first Fast and Furious. I couldn't be happier with the look of this silly movie about thieves raiding a U.S. Treasury facility during a Category 5 storm that brings tidal waves and hurricanes to, what appears to be, the mid west. There are shootouts, car chases, a truck heist and actors from England and Australia putting on faux Southern accents. This looks like the kind of dumb fun that I want at the movies.

The Russia vs America thriller was pretty topical decades ago, then not so topical for a while and now it's very topical so Red Sparrow is coming out right on time. Jennifer Lawrence plays a Russian citizen forced into an elite group spies who are as intelligent and elegant as they are deadly. She is assigned to track a CIA agent carrying information that could unravel Russian and American governments. This looks to be a dark thriller, I'm not sure those looking for a Jennifer Lawrence action film will get that they want.

One of the undying action movie sub-genres is the 'widowed family man on a revenge fueled rampage.' They're usually sent straight to video and made on the cheap unless they carry the name Punisher or Death Wish. This newest incarnation finds horror regular Eli Roth directing Bruce Willis as the wronged family man bent on tracking down those responsible for his family’s demise. It's been several years since we've seen Willis on the big screen in a leading role and I'm not sure this remake will be his Willisaince that fans like myself are hoping for. Type in 'Bruce Willis' on Amazon Prime or RedBox and you'll see a long list of generically titled thrillers that quickly find rental or streaming homes. I'm just waiting for the Unbreakable sequel, did you know we're getting an Unbreakable sequel?

I didn't see the first and since it's not October I doubt I'll see The Strangers: Prey at Night anytime soon, but this series does slightly pique my interest. The Strangers is a well-regarded, 'based on  a true story' home invasion thriller starring Liv Tyler and the sequel stars Christina Hendricks. These two aren't regulars to the horror genre so what attracted them, I wonder? From what I can tell the masked intruders from the first are now attacking a family at an abandoned trailer park. This sort of horror seems to rely heavily on setting and mood over gore and that makes it much more interesting. Although I'm sure there are plenty of jump scares. 

Nash Edgerton is an Australian stunt actor who's been a stunt double for his brother Joel and has worked on Superman, Wolverine, Star Wars and Matrix movies. After years behind the scenes he's made some famous friends and he's brought them along to star in Gringo, which he's produced and directed. Gringo features David Oyelowo as a middle man for a drug manufacturer who is trying to cut out their old business partner, a Mexican drug cartel. He tries to enjoy himself during the business trip but is almost immediately thrown into several dangerous situations and his bosses, Charlize Theron and Joel Edgerton, are pretty much no help. Thandie Newton, Sharlto Copley and Amanda Seyfried also star in this action comedy that, from what I can tell, seems to have been made just for the fun of it.

Alica Vikander won an Oscar for her performance in The Danish Girl but she should've at least been nominated for her role in Ex Machina, where she played an all too human robot. She also appeared in the underrated Man from U.N.C.L.E. remake and is very good at genre jumping. I'm excited that she's the lead in Tomb Raider, based on the popular adventure video game. She'll play Lara Croft, rebellious daughter to a famed adventurer who's gone missing. When she takes it upon herself to track down her father, she finds an unknown island and comes across a shady acquaintance of her father, the always great Walton Goggins, who may be the key to his going missing. There will be no shortage of adventuring, jumping, climbing, punching, kicking, arrow shooting and, most likely, tomb raiding. This looks fun and may be the fabled 'first great video game movie' that video game fans have yet to see. 

The first Pacific Rim was a big robots v. monsters movie with a fun cast and cool action directed by the great Guillermo Del Toro. It did not do well in the U.S. but internationally it did big enough to warrant a sequel! This was exciting but then the director and most of the cast dropped out. Fortunately, Star Wars newbie John Boyega signed up and unfortunately he was joined by Clint Eastwood's son, Scott, who I am not a fan of because he was the replacement for Paul Walker in the Fast and Furious series and can't act. Pacific Rim Uprising sees the creatures from another dimension returning to Earth with new abilities that should promise fun destruction for viewers and hopefully provide distraction from Scott Eastwood. 

When a disease connected to dogs spreads across Japan it is decided that all dogs are to be transported to an Isle of Dogs. A young boy takes it upon himself to steal a plane and search for his dog. Sounds cute right? To make things more interesting this is from Wes Anderson, director of Rushmore, Grand Budapest Hotel and several other great movies. It's also an animated film in the style of his other animated film, The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Like many of his movies it's going to be weird and loaded with stars. I'm a fan of everything I've seen from him so I can't wait. 

When lawn gnomes disappear, Gnomeo and Juliet seek the help of Sherlock Gnomes. This sequel to Gnomeo and Juliet hits close to home because while I was away on vacation there was a snowstorm and one of the biker lawn gnomes  my wife and I got as an engagement gift got knocked over, losing both feet and part of the hat.Would my randomly placed lawn gnomes that my brother in law hid around my yard without asking or telling my wife and me also seek help to find out the truth behind the biker gnomes demise? Who knows? Anyways, this movie looks silly. 

A young girl who's a bit of a social outcast (constantly wearing bunny ears doesn't help) takes it upon herself to defend her community from evil in I Kill Giants. Unfortunately, only she seems to be aware of these incoming evil giants. Her sister, Imogen Poots, just thinks she’s weird and her counselor, Zoe Saldana, thinks she’s troubled but she's ready either way. The trailer doesn't reveal whether the giants are in her imagination or not. It does, however, allude to a fight with a pre-teen wielding a massive battle axe going up against a giant who looks like he walked out of a Transformers movie and into something with a little more heart. 

When the creator of a massive virtual reality world called OASIS, that serves as the most popular form of escape, passes away, he leaves behind a dying message. Somewhere within OASIS is a hidden item, the finder of which will be granted a huge sum of money and control over the VR world. This prompts kids and stock holders alike to scramble and one young man finds himself in over his head when the dangers of the VR world collide with dangers in the real world. Ready Player One is based on a popular book that is overflowing with movie references from the past 30+ years. In the trailer I saw Freddy Kruger, The Iron Giant and The Delorean. Not sure how they all work their way into the plot but with Steven Spielberg directing there's a good chance this will be solid entertainment. 

When a scientist, Chris Pine, working on a new way to travel through space goes missing, his daughter gets help finding him from three otherworldly beings played by Oprah, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling, possibly by utilizing A Wrinkle in Time. I originally thought this was more of an Alice in Wonderland deal, since it's a Disney movie and looks very strange, but I'm interested in the space travel aspect. Outside of a few massive movies (all owned by Disney) space adventures are rarely a hit. With Disney backing the project, a good following and that cast this might do all right.

february

February sees the finale of the 50 Shades series and the latest Marvel movie: Black Panther. Other than that there are a few fun movies to look forward to.

According to HGTV (and plenty of other sources but they came up first) one of the most famous haunted houses in the U.S. is the Winchester house. Belonging to the heir of the Winchester rifle fortune, the story goes that Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren) was haunted by the souls who lost their lives to a Winchester firearm. She came up with a pretty unique plan to build more and more rooms in the mansion she resided in and ordered day and night construction so that the evil spirits would become confused - this was her actual intention. Now aside from the ghost part, the rest is verified. The heir to the Winchester fortune had a massive mansion with loads of rooms (today the count is 161) and she was the sole, and possibly unhinged, architect. The movie posits that eventually these ghosts got loose and started terrorizing Sarah and her guests at the house. The directors have made some visually interesting films in the past so hopefully, since this about a house with bizarre features like doors and staircases to nowhere, this will look good and give audience members the jump scares they're looking for.

Clint Eastwood has been directing films since the 70's and looking through the filmography, there's more range than I expected. There's no shortage of action and war movies, but there's very few westerns and more comedies and dramas than I thought there would be. Lately, however, Eastwood seems to be sticking with recent events. American Sniper, Sully and now The 15:17 to Paris all stem from events that were big news stories only a few years prior to the film’s release. You may recall the story in the news about a man on a train to Paris with a rifle and a group of Americans, two of them soldiers, helped prevent the man from causing any fatalities. The incident took place over several harrowing minutes and you can't make a full length feature about that, so the film focuses on the three Americans as childhood friends and their journey that brought them on board the train. He's tasked the three men to play themselves and filled out the rest of the cast with comedians playing dramatic roles. Judging by the trailer, Eastwood knows his audience. If you think this is for you, it's probably for you.

When Family Guy was brought back on air after being cancelled, there's a bit where Peter lists many shows that were cancelled during the show’s absence, forcing FOX to reevaluate their decision and bring the show back. Peter Rabbit is by the creator of a couple of these cancelled shows, Will Gluck. He then went on to make Friends With Benefits, Easy A and Annie, all of which were modest hits (didn't break 100 mil domestic but still made money). So that's an adult comedy, a teen comedy, a preteen musical comedy and now he's got his animated feature. A cartoon like this is usually for kids but this one has the added advantage of coming out RIGHT before Valentine’s Day and going up against a horror, a true story and a certain movie about a guy with the last name of Grey. If none of those peak your interest then there's this story about Peter Rabbit (James Corden) who just wants to get into Mr. McGregor's (Sam Neill) garden and eat. I imagine this will have some updated jokes as the original story is over 100 years old and it's James Corden, so it'll probably be very charming.

I'm not sure what Universal Pictures is going to do next Valentine's Day. 2015, 2017 and 2018 all saw a 50 Shades of Grey movie, this year's series closer is 50 Shades Freed. 2016 was when Deadpool came out and I guess competitors saw no reason to go up against that film. This latest tale of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele sees them as a rich, happy couple living it up and doing...whatever it is they do in these movies. Something comes up, things aren't so hunkydory anymore and...look I have no idea what happens. If a talking rabbit, a Clint Eastwood film and a haunted house don't do it for you then this one is here too, that's all I know.

All previous films sure are lucky that Black Panther is coming out AFTER Valentine's Day. Chadwick Boseman reprises the role of T'Challa, alias Black Panther, who stole scenes in Captain America: Civil War - which is no easy task. He's now returned to his home, the technically advanced Wakanda, that is so advanced it is hidden from the rest of the world. After getting involved in the events of Civil War, he brought with him some unwanted attention to his home and threats from inside (Michael B. Jordan) and outside (Andy Serkis) which force T'Challa to don his super cool suit. He also teams up with Wakandan soldiers headed by Lupita Nyong'o and a curious C.I.A. agent played by Martin Freeman, also reprising his role from Civil War. This will be Michael B. Jordan's third film directed by Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed) and with ticket sales already supremely high a month before it premiers, the hype for this one is big.

Before writing and directing Ex Machina and garnering lots of deserved attention, Alex Garland wrote The Beach and followed that up with a few films that contained varying levels of sci-fi plotting (Dredd being my favorite). After Ex Machina received a couple Oscar noms and even won for visual effects, it's no surprise that he would make something like Annihilation. When her husband, Oscar Isaac, comes back with a strange illness while on a mysterious military expedition an army biologist, Natalie Portman, leads a group of scientists in an attempt to figure out what's going on. She is sent through 'the shimmer', which is an environmental anomaly that is getting bigger and bigger. Its effects on animal life is something never before seen and it's just as fascinating as it is dangerous. Good thing these scientists brought big guns with them. This is probably more heady sci-fi than Aliens, but from the trailer it's hard for me not to make the comparison. This is the from the first book in a series known as the 'Southern Reach' trilogy, so if this gets good reviews and makes money we'll probably see a couple more of these.

It was only within the last year that I began getting together with friends and playing board games on a semi-regular basis. I never thought I'd enjoy it all that much but it turns out I love it. Game Night is also about a group of friends who get together to play games, but on this particular night one of the friends tells them things are going to be a bit different. He says that one of them will be kidnapped and things will get so crazy that they won't know if it's real or fake. When he's kidnapped by gunmen they eat snacks and laugh it off. When they find out the prop gun they come across is actually a real gun, they begin to realize this game might not be a game at all. Car chases and gunfights ensue and since it's Rachel McAdam's, Jason Bateman and plenty of other recognizable faces seemingly enjoying themselves, it looks like a fun time.

Happy Valentine's Day all!

january

Last January I noted how this month belongs to the action genre and January 2018 is no different. It's also when the Oscar nominated movies that premiered in December get wide releases, so there's that too.

Since restarting his career in his mid-50's and becoming an action star Liam Neeson has made about a dozen thrillers and The Commuter will be his fourth from director Jaume Collet-Serra. Unknown is very twisty and Run All Night is very violent but Non-Stop is great. The deliberately ridiculous story can be a bit much at times but it's played seriously and the acting is great. Fortunately The Commuter looks to have a similar tone. When Neeson, a commuter, boards his train he meets a stranger, Vera Farmigia, who asks if he could spot a person on the train who doesn't belong. Uninterested he ignores her, until a random passenger is killed. Now that he knows the stakes he's a bit more interested in the game he's been pulled in to. If this plays out anything like Non-Stop it will be an over the top, well-paced thriller that is very fun and exciting.

Having an assassin protecting a child is a pretty common trope in the realm of action cinema. It's been done before and it'll be done again, but Proud Mary is about a female assassin protecting a child. The action genre is short on female leads and even shorter on African American female leads, so having Taraji P. Henson playing the titular Mary makes this film a bit of a triumph before it has even premiered.While not a regular in action films Henson did have a pretty substantial role as a sniper in the uneven but entertaining hitman actioner Smokin' Aces, so this isn't entirely new material to her. It's from the London Has Fallen director, which has some impressive, and wildly violent, action sequences, so this should be entertaining for action fans while also serving as a call back to the days when Pam Grier was starring in movies.

London Has Fallen appears to have been a good career jumping off point for more than just the director. One of the writers is making his directorial debut with Den of Thieves which features London star Gerard Butler as a brutal cop after a group of bank robbers. The robbers are played by 50 Cent, Pablo Schreiber (half-brother of Liev) and O'Shea Jackson (son of Ice Cube) and this looks to be a bit more action packed than last January's cops and robbers movie Triple 9 (although in that the cops were the robbers). The trailer makes this clear with lots of machine gun fire and Butler, the cop, stating that he's worse than the robbers he's chasing down. This looks to be the type of thing that would pop up in Redbox had it not pulled together a decent cast. Perfect for a January release.

For all of the action films producer Jerry Bruckheimer has under his belt (like all of the Pirates and Transformers movies), he hasn't dabbled that much in the war genre. The war films he has made vary in terms of quality and pace but not in star power, the cast is always stacked. Crimson Tide is a tense, submarine-based cold war thriller, Black Hawk Down is a thrilling true story that has more character development than you'd expect and Pearl Harbor is a shameless attempt to shoehorn in a romantic subplot to cash in on the Titanic craze from years earlier. 12 Strong is another true story and, much like those other war films, the cast is loaded with recognizable faces. After the 9/11 attacks, a group of soldiers are quickly sent over to Afghanistan where they team up with local militia to do battle with the Taliban. Due to the terrain, the soldiers are forced to abandon contemporary methods of transportation and have to rely on horses (hence the title of the book - it's based on 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers). Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Pena and Rob Riggle (who, despite being recognized as a big goofy comedian, is probably one of the only actors in the film to serve as a Marine) star. 

There are quite a few dystopian film series based on young adult novels and the one I've enjoyed the most so far has been the Maze Runner series.The first was about a group of kids trying to make it past several deadly traps in a maze they've awoken in. They then realize they're test subjects under the control of an evil corporation known as WCKD (a bit on the nose) who's pretty much destroyed the world. The second one has them try to survive a burnt out city while WCKD soldiers and a horde of zombies hunt them down. Maze Runner: The Death Cure, will again put the group through another maze created by WCKD as they try to stop the zombie outbreak and hopefully never have to go through another maze again.

These movies about Paddington, the adorable British talking bear, look incredibly charming and Paddington 2 looks no different. In his second adventure he picks up odd jobs so he can buy someone a gift for their 100th birthday. I mean how cute is that? Then the gift gets stolen and that takes him on a whole new adventure. Not exactly the highest of stakes but I imagine this will be a fun family film.

I didn't see Insidious 3 but I really enjoyed the first two. The first two are about a family haunted by an evil entity so they contact paranormal investigator Elise Rainer. She brings with her two assistants and they're kind of like indie-film Ghostbusters whose casual attitudes towards dangerous and evil situations brings a levity to an otherwise pretty dark series. Spoiler alert: Insidious: The Last Key

is a prequel since Rainer dies at the end of the first movie. In this Rainer does battle with an evil entity at her own home. Lots of jump scares to be expected, maybe even a few laughs. 

Happy New Years folks! If you brave the cold and see a movie I hope you enjoy it!

december

It's very easy to say, 'Star Wars is coming out this month. I don't care about anything else,' but there's actually plenty of other stuff to care about this month! 

Might as well get this out of the way. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is nearly here! I’m very excited for this one because it’s directed by Rian Johnson, who made Looper which is one of the coolest sci-fi action films. Now recent Star Wars news regarding the Han Solo movie might suggest that any artistic influence from the director will be shut down by the studio, but I'm pretty sure Johnson can work within the studios parameters and still put out a great film. Hopefully Mark Hamill gets to speak in this one and we'll all try not to cry seeing Carrie Fisher's final performance.

James Franco likes to spread himself thin. He's involved in all sorts of projects. Movies, television, acting, writing, directing. He really seems to enjoy his job and this latest project has gotten some surprising buzz. It's surprising because it's about the making of The Room a.k.a 'the greatest bad movie ever made.' The Disaster Artist tells the story of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero, portrayed by brothers James and Dave Franco, and their journey to make The Room. I haven't seen The Room but it's supposed to be enjoyably awful and the story behind it is supposed to be even better. Franco brought a lot of his famous friends together to make this, should be fun.

Guillermo del Toro makes some cool sci-fi action films and beautiful looking tragedies. The Shape of Water looks like it's somewhere in the middle. While working at a secret government lab during the Cold War, an employee comes across an amphibious man that seems to be the result of experimentation. This out of this world creature feature with a moving story will probably be more Pan's Labyrinth than Hellboy and that’s not a complaint.

Without researching (because I don't like reading sad stuff) I'll say that the 1973 John Paul Getty III kidnapping is one of the most famous in the history of kidnapping, Patty Hearst may be more popular. They're both related to famous rich people, that's probably the only reason I'm aware of them. When Getty was kidnapped in Rome and held for ransom. His mother Gail Harris, Michelle Williams, asks her billionaire father, Christopher Plummer, to pay since he has All the Money in the World. Instead of handing over the money he sends over his security man Fletcher Chase, Mark Wahlberg, and Chase and Harris try to sort out the kidnapping with little help from the stingy billionaire. 

Most movies know not to go up against Star Wars, but if you have The Rock, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan you may as well give it a shot. Directed by Jake Kasdan (son of Star Wars regular screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who is sitting out this next SW film and not competing with his son) Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, looks like it may be a lot of fun. In the first Jumanji a magic board game released characters from the game into the real world for some mid 90's Robin Williams insanity. This time around a Breakfast Club like group of teens come across a magic video game called Jumanji and get pulled into the world of the game. Once inside they take the look and power of their chosen character (the popular teen socialite becoming Jack Black will probably be mined for all jokes possible) and must work as a team to beat the video game and return to the real world. Unless they get trapped, only to be released decades later like in the first, but I doubt that.  

The Bellas are back at it and this time they're singing for America at a USO show in Pitch Perfect 3. Their competition, according to the film description, is 'a group who uses both instruments and voices,' which most of us would call 'a band.' If you've seen the first two then you know what to expect. Friends hanging out, singing, peppered with cameos and more singing. After watching the first one I realized I had a real love for mashup songs.

In an attempt to save the world and create less waste, Matt Damon follows the trend of Downsizing, but instead of moving into a small home and recycling, he shrinks himself and joins a small but growing society. This one looks charming, not really a December release but it's from the director of Descendants, Election and Sideways, so when he makes a movie the Academy pays attention.   

When their mom, Glenn Close, tells them their father isn't really dead, Ed Helms and Owen Wilson go on a road trip to find out which character actor is their real father - or at the very least find a Father Figure. J.K. Simmons, Christopher Walken, Ving Rhames and Harry Shearer all show up. That's a lot of funny people. 

I imagine people have high expectations for a Spielberg movie starring Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and a slew of others (including David Cross and Bob Odenkirk!), from the writer of Spotlight about a huge presidential cover-up discovered by journalists. The Post will most likely get a lot of attention. 

It always baffles me to see Wolverine signing, but then I remember that before X-Men Hugh Jackman was a stage actor who caught a lucky break. The Greatest Showman gives him the opportunity to sing once again as P.T. Barnum. This musical tells a rags to riches tale of Barnum and becoming the showman that he is recognized as. I imagine some artistic license was used here but it is a musical about P.T. Barnum so what would you expect? 

For all that Aaron Sorkin has done with film and television (A Few Good Men, West Wing, etc.) the man has yet to be behind the camera until now. Based on the memoir of Molly Bloom, famous skier turned host of underground poker tournament for the wealthy and the rich, Molly's Game will be the first time he'll be writing and directing. Jessica Chastain plays Molly and Idris Elba plays her criminal defense attorney, which she needed after Federal Agents catch wind of her massive poker racket.

Daniel Day Lewis' final film before he retires checks a lot of Oscar boxes. Phantom Thread is a 1950's period piece where he plays a dressmaker who's living the high life making dresses for the rich and famous, but things get complicated when he falls in love with a young woman. Oh, and it's directed by Paul T. Anderson, who directed DDL to an Oscar in There Will Be Blood. I don't think this one is for me but I expect it to be on some top 10 lists come year end. 

SO there’s some fun movies, some Oscar hopefuls and Star Wars. Happy December!

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