November, the month of Novmems, or something like that. Anyway, big award bait pictures are starting to hit now. It is going to be a good-ish month of movies.
This BSR! Weekend Movie Preview is for the weekend of October 31, 2014. A quick halloween disclaimer first. All of the film information presented here, including the plot summary, has been pulled from the Opening This Week page of IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/nowplaying/). I have not seen any of these movies at the time of this writing (except for one this week).
Join us this week as we preview “Interstellar”, “Big Hero 6”, and more.
Interstellar (2014)
PG-13 169 min – Adventure | Sci-Fi
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Mackenzie Foy
Summary: A group of explorers make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Thoughts: Ohhh nooo!! The world is ending!! Boo hooo! What are we gonna do!! Actually, something pretty cool. See my review here: https://bigshinyrobot.com/58201/interstellar-review/
Big Hero 6 (2014)
PG 108 min – Animation | Action | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi
Directors: Don Hall | Chris Williams
Stars: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung, T.J. Miller
Summary: The special bond that develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes.
Thoughts: Just to be clear, this isn’t a Marvel movie. It is a movie based on a Marvel property. It is firmly a Disney movie though, built in the child labor animation factories that Disney has in the far east.
The Theory of Everything (2014) – [Limited]
PG-13 123 min – Biography | Drama
Director: James Marsh
Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior, Sophie Perry
Summary: A look at the relationship between the famous physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife.
Thoughts: Even though everyone pretty much knows how this timeless love story ultimately ends, it looks fantastic. And Eddie Redmayne looks like he nails it.
Jessabelle (2014)
PG-13 90 min – Horror | Thriller
Director: Kevin Greutert
Stars: Sarah Snook, Mark Webber, Joelle Carter, David Andrews
Summary: Returning to her childhood home in Louisiana to recuperate from a horrific car accident, Jessabelle comes face to face with a long-tormented spirit that has been seeking her return — and has no intention of letting her escape.
Thoughts: I can’t wait for the sequel when Jessabelle goes up against Annabelle. In the third movie they both (Annabelle has been redeemed and is a good guy now) team up with Corabelle the cow and kick alien butts.
The Better Angels (2014)
PG 95 min – Biography | Drama | History
Director: A.J. Edwards
Stars: Jason Clarke, Diane Kruger, Brit Marling, Wes Bentley
Summary: The story of Abraham Lincoln’s childhood in the harsh wilderness of Indiana and the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him for ever and the two women who guided him to immortality.
Thoughts: Don’t get me wrong, I think really highly of Abraham Lincoln, but I really don’t know how I feel about this kind of deification. This legend making is the kind thing we deal with reality stars and hopefully we are smart enough to ignore it, but to do it to a real legend seems weird. I don’t know, maybe I am just being contrary, but this isn’t something I am terribly interested in.
Open Windows (2014)
100 min – Action | Crime | Thriller
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Stars: Sasha Grey, Elijah Wood, Neil Maskell, Nacho Vigalondo
Summary: A jilted fan is pulled into a a world of cat-and-mouse danger after accepting an invitation to spy on his favorite actress via computer.
Thoughts: Ummm, even after the summary and the trailer, this movie still looks pretty incomprehensible.
On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter (2014)
PG 90 min – Documentary | Adventure | Sport
Director: Dana Brown
Stars: Travis Pastrana, Ashley Fiolek, Robbie Maddison, Kenny Roberts
Summary: Inspired by Bruce Brown’s 1971 documentary, “On Any Sunday,” chronicles the international sport of motorcycle racing.
Thoughts: There is a lot of money to be made in the “Critic Proof” film genre, which is almost exclusively comprised of extreme type sports movies. Like this.
National Gallery (2014)
180 min – Documentary
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Summary: A documentary that goes inside one of the great museums of the world: The National Gallery in London.
Thoughts: In the grand tradition of stuffy documentaries is this attempt to bring culture to the unwashed masses and explain why it is so much more important than other museums. Was that mean? Sorry, it has been a long week.
Ok, that’s it for this week. Two big hitters and several smaller niche offerings. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.