Romance and Rom-Coms:
Plot
Summary: Katie has a dark secret that haunts her past – one that she is
on the run from. Her latest place of refuge is Southport, NC. There she meets a
charming widower and begins to fall for him, but to truly let him in she must
confront her mysterious past (yup, it is a Nicholas Sparks story). Filmmakers: Director Lasse Hallstrom has tackled a
Nicholas Sparks adaptation before with 2010’s Dear John (a film
that I did like, and actually it is my favorite of the few adaptations of his
work I have seen), but he is better known for his great work in drama and
romance with films like My Life
as a Dog, What’s Eating
Gilbert Grape, The Cider
House Rules, and Chocolat.
I also enjoyed Salmon
Fishing in the Yemen, which was released last year. Hallstrom is working
with his same Dear John crew: composer Deborah Lurie, cinematographer Terry Stacey, and production
designer Kara Lindstrom. Cast: It stars Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel, with Cobie Smulders and David Lyons in support. Expectations: Safe Haven is more than likely going
to be a throwaway generic romance drama, and one with a fairly poor cast at
that. I like Julianne Hough, she has a good energy, but she is not yet a good
actress (based on what I saw in Rock
of Ages – one of the worst films I saw in 2012). The only reason to be
somewhat optimistic about this film is director Lasse Hallstrom, who is a good
fit for the story. His career is littered with poor films, yes, but it also
features quite a few good films too. Anyway, this is a rental at best (or maybe
a date movie if there is nothing else). Trailer: Here.
Plot
Summary: Lena Duchannes is a young witch in the Deep South, almost at
the age of maturity. When she reaches that age her powers will be claimed for
either the light or dark. Should she be claimed for the dark, and given her
immense power, her kind could (and would) enslave humanity. To complicate
matters, she meets a boy, Ethan Wate, who she falls for, but their relationship
puts everyone in danger as her emotions seem to lead her closer to the dark
side (like Luke Skywalker). Will this young love end in tragedy? Filmmakers: Writer-director Richard LaGravenese
has made three prior films – two are okay and one is decent (that being Freedom Writers). He is
somewhat well suited to make a romance fantasy (I guess), as his last film was P.S. I Love You (since it sort
of had a supernatural element to it). He is working with first time composer Thenewno2 (apparently this is a
band), cinematographer Philippe
Rousselot (Sherlock
Holmes: A Game of Shadows), and production designer Richard Sherman (Twilight: Breaking Dawn). Cast: The film stars Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich, and features Emmy Rossum, Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson, Viola Davis, Thomas Mann, Kyle Gallner, Zoey Deutch, and Margo Martindale in support. Expectations: Beautiful Creatures is essentially a
glorified CW show – it looks and feels like that to me at least (The Secret Circle).
Warner Bros. is hoping it will be the next Twilight for them
(they even hired the same production designer to give it the same look and
feel). It has a mediocre creative team, but a good cast, leading me to think it
will likely be average at best and forgettable, but maybe the cast can elevate
it. However, for Warner Bros. the quality does not really matter (look at the
Twilight franchise, they are all objectively terrible films and yet all print
money); all they really care about is whether or not this will connect with its
intended demographic (like Twilight and The
Hunger Games did, or like the CW’s The Vampire Diaries
does – but at least The Hunger Games and The Vampire Diaries are actually
good). Trailer: Here.
Serious Films:
Plot
Summary: Val, a criminal on his last legs, is released from prison after
serving a lengthy sentence, having taken the fall for his crew. His best friend
and fellow criminal Doc picks him up. However, Doc has been tasked by their
crime boss to kill Val. Thus, the two go out for one last night out of
reminisce and to feel like young men again. Filmmakers:
Stand Up Guys marks actor-turned-director Fisher Steven’s second feature film
(yes, he was Ben Jabituya in Short
Circuit), his first was 2002’s Just a Kiss. He is working with
composer Lyle Workman (Win Win), cinematographer Michael Grady (Friends
with Benefits), and production designer Maher Ahmad (Gangster Squad). Cast: Al
Pacino and Christopher Walken
star, with Alan Arkin
co-starring. Julianna Margulies,
Mark Margolis, Lucy Punch, Addison Timlin, and Katheryn Winnick feature in
support. Expectations: Stand Up Guys has a
great cast with Pacino, Walken, and Arkin. That might be a good enough reason
alone to see it. However, Fisher Stevens is not a great director, and the buzz
from its advanced screenings has been mixed. I think it looks like an okay
drama, completely reliant on its actors. Is it worth renting? If you like the
actors, yes. Trailer: Here.
Action/Adventure:
Plot
Summary: James Bonomo is a New Orleans hit man. Taylor Kwon is a
Washington D.C. detective. What do they have in common? Both of their partners have
been killed by the same man – so, they form an alliance to take down their
shared enemy (because, who doesn’t like buddy movies). Filmmakers:
Director Walter Hill is one of the action genre’s great filmmakers, having made
Hard Times, The Driver, The Warriors (which with 48
Hrs. is my favorite of his), The
Long Riders, Southern
Comfort, and 48 Hrs., as
well as producing the Alien
franchise (I also enjoy his gangster western Last Man Standing).
He is working with composer Steve
Mazzaro (his debut), cinematographer Lloyd Ahem II (frequent
collaborator), and production designer Toby Corbett (Running Scared). Cast: Sylvester
Stallone and Sung Kang
star, with Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agaje, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater, and Jon Seda in support. Expectations: Bullet to the Head is a return to
classic action – i.e. mindless, violent, and cheesy but very entertaining.
Walter Hill has somewhat been out of the game (his last work was on the good
miniseries Broken Trail and
an episode of Deadwood,
and that was seven years ago), but he is one of the filmmakers that helped
create the genre, as is the film’s star Stallone. It has been getting
surprisingly positive buzz from its advanced screenings. If you love pure
action films (like the stuff made in the 1980s and 1990s), this is probably
going to work for you. Trailer: Here.
Plot
Summary: Die Hard 5 sees John McClane travel to Russia to visit his son
Jack, who he discovers is a CIA operative on a mission to prevent a
nuclear-weapons heist. Naturally, they team up (one would think that McClane
would be tired of being shot at and having things explode around him – but I
guess him just saying, “Okay son, you got this, I’m going back to the hotel to
take a nice bath” would have made for a less exciting movie). Filmmakers: Director John Moore was seemingly
hired because he has made some action films in the past. It probably does not
matter that they are all somewhat bad (and also, his remake of The Omen is
unwatchable). Anyway, he is working with frequent collaborators composer Marco Beltrami (he also scored Live Free or Die Hard),
cinematographer Jonathan Sela,
and production designer Daniel T.
Dorrance. Cast: Bruce Willis stars (and is
executively producing) as McClane (for those who don’t know) with Mary Elizabeth Winstead returning
for a cameo as his daughter and Jai
Courtney playing his son. Expectations: Does
Die Hard 5 need to exist, probably not. Die Hard 4 was entertaining, and I
guess it has been long enough that having a new adventure in the John McClane
saga seems somewhat reasonable. This basically looks like lots of explosions,
gun fire, violence, and one-liners stripped of all character and real drama
(which is what made the original Die Hard
great) leaving only caricatures, catch-phrases (like the stupid poster you see
to your left), and mindless noise and visuals. And yet, I probably will still
rent this (as I seemingly am a slave to the machine). Action fans might find
something to like here, but I predict that it is not very good. Trailer: Here.
Plot
Summary: After his son is caught up in a DEA case and could spend half
his life in prison, a father makes a deal with the DEA to trade them
information for his son’s release. To do this, he must implant himself
undercover in the dangerous world of cartel drug dealers. Filmmakers: Writer-director Ric Roman Waugh used
to be a stuntman. Now, he is on his third feature film. While neither of his
films are critically applauded, average moviegoers seem to enjoy his last film Felon. He is working again with
cinematographer Dana Gonzales
and production designer Vincent
Reynaud. New to the team is composer Antonio Pinto (City of God). Cast: Dwayne
Johnson stars and is also producing (I guess he is famous enough now that
he does not need his wrestling moniker ‘The Rock’ anymore on movie posters and
title cards). Nadine Valazquez,
Harold Perrineau, Susan Sarandon, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jon Bernthal, Barry Pepper, and Benjamin Bratt make up the
supporting cast. Expectations: Snitch looks
like a very generic action crime thriller – every action beat and plot point is
pretty much already known before the viewer even walks into the theatre. Thus,
for this to be any good, the action better be exciting and the plot and
characters better be at least somewhat fresh – but really, these are things
that probably will not happen and this will just be another throwaway February
release. I do enjoy The Rock though (as an Attitude Era wrestling fan). Oh
yeah, I almost forgot, the story is also based on true events, because that
somehow makes it more interesting (only the events have been fictionalized so
the scenes are not boring, specifically the action sequences). Trailer: Here.
Comedy:
Plot
Summary: Sandy is just your average guy with a family and a boring job. And,
he is the victim of identity theft. However, Sandy is not going to take it
lying down. He decides to go and find the person that stole his identity (who
happens to be a deceptively harmless-looking woman named Diane) and bring them
to justice, and by doing so expunging his own record. How hard could it be? Filmmakers: Director Seth Gordon got his career
off to a great start with the documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of
Quarters, but then he went into feature comedies with Four Christmases (which was a
failure critically and commercially). Next, he directed episodes for many of TV’s
best comedies: Parks and
Recreation, Community, The Office, and Modern Family. In 2011, he
returned to features with the breakout hit Horrible
Bosses putting him back atop the list of the genre’s most sot after
directors – thus, expectations are high for Identity Thief, which seems to have
the same feel as Horrible Bosses. He is working again with composer Christopher Lennertz and
production designer Shepherd
Frankel. New to the team is cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe (Fright
Night). Cast: The film stars Jason Bateman (working again
with Gordon) and Melissa McCarthy.
The supporting cast features Robert
Patrick, Genesis Rodriguez,
Amanda Peet, John Cho, Jon Favreau, Eric Stonestreet, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, Jonathan Banks, Clark Duke, Morris Chestnut, Ben Falcone, and T.I. Expectations:
Identity Thief looks funny, and really that is all that matters for this type
of comedy (forgettable, but in the moment very entertaining). But, Jason
Bateman is already overused and bland, and Melissa McCarthy’s bit is going to
be tired soon enough as she is being put in everything (she is in This
Is 40 which came out in December, this film, The Heat due
in April, The Hangover Part III
due in May, and Tammy due
later this year to go along with her regular TV gig Mike & Molly). The other
potential issue is that Craig Mazin wrote the script, and he is
responsible for many of the worst films (let alone comedies) in recent memory (Scary Movie sequels
and another awful spoof movie – and The
Hangover Part II, which took something funny and made it bad). So in
summary, yes it looks funny (mostly because of wacky Melissa McCarthy), but
there are concerns. Trailer: Here.
Horror:
Plot
Summary: A family lives in a house. Weird stuff starts happing. Inexplicably,
they stay in the house and try to deal. It all comes to a head (my prediction
is aliens). Filmmakers: Writer-director
Scott Stewart used to do visual effects for movies, but now he makes films. His
first two were Legion and Priest (I did not see Legion,
but I thought Priest was awful) – this is his third. He is working with
composer Joseph Bishara (Insidious), cinematographer David Boyd (The Walking Dead), and
production designer Jeff
Higinbotham (collaborated with Stewart on Legion). Cast:
Keri Russell and Josh
Hamilton star, with J.K.
Simmons in support. Expectations: Dark
Skies looks like an okay horror thriller. It is produced by the Paranormal Activity
team, so take that as you will. For his third feature, Stewart seems to be
playing it safe with a more traditional genre film, versus the grander concept
stuff of his first two films (especially Priest). If you like this kind of home
invasion thriller (maybe the best of which is Poltergeist) then
maybe this is something to check out, but for most of us this is probably a
pass. Trailer: Here.
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