Studio burn-off
time is (hopefully) almost at its end, folks. This January has been a
less-than-stellar month for the moviegoing experience, which is
generally the case every January. However, there are at least a
couple possibly promising releases hitting theaters this weekend.
Plus, in a week's time, we get a new Coen brothers movie. Bring on
February, Hollywood.
Fifty Shades of Black
Director: Michael
Tiddes
Writers: Rick
Alvarez, Marlon Wayans
Starring: Marlon
Wayans, Kali Hawk, Fred Willard
You know what's a
funny flick? Scary Movie. Most of the titles ending with Movie
since have unfortunately been under the purview of a pair of
filmmakers, Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg, whose style we can
charitably call “not artful.” Their entire schtick is putting
actors with something akin to comedic timing in situations that
repeat, almost beat for beat, moments from recently popular films and
expect you to think they're funny. Marlon Wayans, however, was behind
Scary Movie, and the guy knows how to make me laugh – The
Wayans Bros. TV show was a regular in the Samuelson household as
I was growing up. He recently returned to the spoof racket. This time
around, he's taking on the look, feel, and sometimes the exact lines
from Fifty Shades of Grey. It looks a little dire. Please, Mr.
Wayans, do not do the dreadful thing your successors did. “Isn't it
hilarious that this thing I'm referencing exists?” is not humor.
The Finest Hours
Director: Craig
Gillespie
Writers: Scott
Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
Starring: Chris
Pine, Holliday Grainger, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Eric Bana
It's rarely a good
sign to see something like this, a prestigious heroism movie, open in
the early months of the year. However, The Finest Hours still
has those prestigious heroism trappings, with a 1950s-set story about
a Coast Guard crew setting out in the middle of a particularly rough
storm to save people from sinking oil tankers. It's led by Chris
Pine, appearing to shed his cocky Captain Kirk persona for something
more earnest here, plus ringers like Casey Affleck and Eric Bana
support. Director Craig Gillespie (Fright Night) has a
workmanlike, professional sheen to the stuff he makes. With the
Disney live-action machine behind him, there's a lot of promise for a
handsome, possibly tragic story about bravery in the face of great
danger.
Kung Fu Panda 3
Directors:
Alessandro Carloni, Jennifer Yuh
Writers: Jonathan
Aibel, Glenn Berger
Starring: Jack
Black, Bryan Cranston, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, J.K. Simmons
I'm not the
audience for this one. I've never seen a Kung Fu Panda movie,
although I've heard encouraging things. The third one's trailer
features a bunch of cute, fat pandas ruining Jack Black's heroic
panda's attack plans by eating a bunch of dumplings meant to portray
troop movements. If that's not cute to you, I don't know what can
warm your frigid heart. The voice cast is remarkably talented and
it's a series of adventures families have loved quite a bit in the
last several years. If you've got kids, this is likely a solid way to
spend some time with them.
Jane Got a Gun
Director: Gavin
O'Connor
Writers: Brian
Duffield, Anthony Tambakis, Joel Edgerton
Starring: Natalie
Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor, Rodrigo Santoro, Noah Emmerich
This one has walked
a torturous path to reach the big screen. It was seemingly in
production forever, as directors and multiple stars joined and left
several times. Jane Got a Gun is the story of a former western
outlaw gang member (Natalie Portman) whose past catches up with her.
She turns to her former lover, played by Joel Edgerton – who was
originally cast as the film's villain but later moved to replace two
other stars, Michael Fassbender and Jude Law, in this role – for
help in fending off the attacks of Ewan McGregor's villain. It's a
western, and I love those. However, if the trailer is any indication,
all the behind-the-scenes shuffling – We Need to Talk about
Kevin filmmaker Lynne Ramsay left amid some fights with the
studio – did not result in the right fit. It looks a little cheap, with some weird slow-mo shots that are a little choppy.
Hopefully it's not, but this one inspires less than supreme
confidence.
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