We're cooking with
gas, folks. Well, sort of. There are two for-sure exciting releases
this weekend and one dubious one. Two out of three is a pretty good
day at the ballpark, so it's a pretty good night at the movies, too.
Right? Whatever. I've dragged this out long enough. But whatever, the
Cubs officially open Spring Training today. It's on my mind. I refuse
to apologize!
Right, movies. Here
they are.
Race
Director: Stephen
Hopkins
Writers: Joe
Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse
Starring: Stephan
James, Jason Sudeikis, Eli Goree, Shanice Banton, Carice van Houten
Stephan James, who
was terrific as a coming-of-age Rep. John Lewis in Selma, now
gets to take center stage as Jesse Owens. Thankfully, director
Stephen Hopkins and co-writers Joe Shrapnel (the best writer in
Hollywood based on his name alone) and Anna Waterhouse appear to have
focused on the brief period when Owens made history and humiliated
the Nazis at the 1936 Olympics in Germany. There are worse feelings
to have at the movies than patriotism, right? Plus Jason Sudeikis
plays Owens's coach, Larry Snyder, and Game of Thrones' Carice
van Houten gets to bring her easy, charismatic evil skills to the big
screen as Leni Riefenstahl.
If there is a reason to tap the breaks on the excitement for this, it's director Hopkins's resume. He's done lots of TV work in the last decade-plus, but being reminded of Lost in Space on his IMDb page does not inspire much confidence. Hopefully he's learned a thing or two since trying to turn Matt LeBlanc into Han Solo.
If there is a reason to tap the breaks on the excitement for this, it's director Hopkins's resume. He's done lots of TV work in the last decade-plus, but being reminded of Lost in Space on his IMDb page does not inspire much confidence. Hopefully he's learned a thing or two since trying to turn Matt LeBlanc into Han Solo.
Risen
Director: Kevin
Reynolds
Writers: Kevin
Reynolds, Paul Aiello
Starring: Joseph
Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth, Cliff Curtis, MarÃa Botto
This one has a
nifty premise, turning the resurrection of Jesus Christ into a gritty
detective thriller. It features former Shakespeare and soon-to-be Michael Jackson Joseph Fiennes as a Roman soldier charged with guarding the
tomb of the crucified religious leader. But the body disappears
anyway, so he takes his deputy, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), on a trip
to find out what happened. The trailer has the right kind of
atmosphere, but color me skeptical about its prospects for quality.
For one thing,
director Kevin Reynolds is the man behind Waterworld and
Tristan + Isolde. These are not things that would make
humanity proud if they happened to be the only surviving artifacts
found by an alien race long after our extinction. But hey, you never
know. If you haven't been to church in a while and you're feeling
guilty, go to your secular Mass and grab some religious flavor while
you're at it. Because if there's one thing Jesus loves, it's
efficiency.
The Witch
Director: Robert
Eggers
Writer: Robert
Eggers
Starring: Anya
Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie
Grainger, Lucas Dawson
And now, the big,
important one for the week. The Witch has been one of my most
anticipated movies of 2016 since I heard word about it from last
year's Sundance Film Festival. Costume designer and art director
Robert Eggers makes his feature writing-directing debut on this
colonial parable about a family banished from their religious
sanctuary for being too committed to the cause. They move to
their own secluded place in the woods and bad things start happening.
Plus there's a devious goat hanging around with the name of Black
Phillip. Something supernatural and evil is afoot. And it looks and
sounds utterly terrific.
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