Finally, a light week of movies. Or is that “a lite week of movies”? Anyway, there is at least one winner in the bunch and that makes for a good week at the movies.
This BSR! Weekend Movie Previews is for the weekend of October 3, 2014. Per usual, before we get started, a quick disclaimer. I write these over my lunch at my day job, 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.
Join us this week as we preview “Gone Girl”, “The Good Lie”, “Annabelle”, and some others.
Gone Girl (2014)
R 149 min – Drama | Mystery | Thriller
Director: David Fincher
Stars: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry
Summary: With his wife’s disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent.
Thoughts: I like the filmmaker that David Fincher has matured in to. He has always been a very strong technical director, sometimes mind bogglingly so, but his films always felt, to me, a bit forced thematically. However, since Zodiac, I feel like he has loosened up that part of him and has become more invested in the characters rather than forcing the characters to fit his plot or vision, and I think that is a very good thing.
The Good Lie (2014)
PG-13 110 min – Drama
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal
Summary: Sudanese refugees given the chance to resettle in America arrive in Kansas, where their encounter with employment agency counselor forever changes all of their lives.
Thoughts: I am not the audience for this movie. Or even movies like this. At all. The trailer does it no favors. White people saving humorous, uneducated brown people, who even though they aren’t very smart teach the white people a little something, too. So condescending. And even if the movie isn’t that, the trailer doubles down on it heavily. Ugh.
Annabelle (2014)
R 98 min – Horror
Director: John R. Leonetti
Stars: Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis, Alfre Woodard, Tony Amendola
Summary: A couple begin to experience terrifying supernatural occurrences involving a vintage doll shortly after their home is invaded by satanic cultists.
Thoughts: Man, if the movie is even half as long as that trailer, I don’t know if any viewers will come out of it unscathed. Our very own awesome Sithbot reviews it here.
Men, Women & Children (2014) – [Limited – Expands on 10/10]
R 119 min – Comedy | Drama
Director: Jason Reitman
Stars: Kaitlyn Dever, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ansel Elgort, Jennifer Garner
Summary: A group of high school teenagers and their parents attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives.
Thoughts: I like Jason Reitman. There, I said it. I didn’t like “Juno”, but I loved “Up In The Air”. I have no idea what this movie is actually about, but I think I really want to see it because the trailer is so vague but really makes you ask a lot of questions. Questions like; “Is that Adam Sandler googling prostitutes?”, “Is that Alias girl?”, and “So many teenagers being mopey, maybe I don’t want to see this”.
Left Behind (2014)
PG-13 110 min – Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Director: Vic Armstrong
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Lea Thompson, Cassi Thomson, Chad Michael Murray
Summary: A small group of survivors are left behind after millions of people suddenly vanish and the world is plunged into chaos and destruction.
Thoughts: OMG! The first 20 or so seconds of this trailer are awesome!! And then it gets really sing-y and sad. It looks like the whole thing takes place in the space of a plane flight. Do you think Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel show up at all in it? Actually, wouldn’t it be awesome if Craig Robinson is in it, and then he gets the Hat Trick for being in all three Left Behind-ish movies in the last two years? I hope Craig Robinson is in it.
The Blue Room (2014) – [Limited]
76 min – Crime | Thriller
Director: Mathieu Amalric
Stars: Mathieu Amalric, Léa Drucker, Stéphanie Cléau, Laurent Poitrenaux
Summary: A man and a woman, secretly in love, alone in a room. They desire each other, want each other, and even bite each other. In the afterglow, they share a few sweet nothings. At least the man seemed to believe they were nothing. Now under investigation by the police and the courts, what is he accused of?
Thoughts: Seriously guys!! Don’t have sex. Especially with hot, mysterious French women. It may sound awesome, and actually be awesome, but the price is really really high.
The Hero of Color City (2014) – [Limited]
G 77 min – Animation
Director: Frank Gladstone
Stars: Owen Wilson, Christina Ricci, Rosie Perez, Wayne Brady
Summary: A diverse band of crayons strive to protect not only their magical multihued homeland but the imagination of children everywhere from a terrifying monster.
Thoughts: Wait, I’m confused here. Doesn’t Magnolia Pictures make, like, real movies? Is this a joke? Tell me they all turn to monsters by the end of the movie and pull the little boy into their CGI hell world. Crayon Monsters. All melted together into one big blobby brownish, greenish mix of blech. My hopes aren’t very high on that, though.
Now, it’s your turn – if you have seen any of these movies, let us know your thoughts in the comments, especially “The Hero of Color City”. No way it can be as bad as it looks, but I am hoping so hard right now, I might burst a blood vessel in my brain.