Just as expected, January was a super boring month. I only managed to see Zero Dark Thirty (which is a 2012 movie anyway) and Mama which was nothing to get excited about. Maybe February will be better but probably not by much.
MARCH 1
- 21 and Over – Looks like the multitude of party movies with a group of guy friends that have come before. This one stars two white boys I can’t tell apart and the asian kid who had 8 lines over the course of 4 Twilight movies. Not too encouraging. Also, it’s from the writers of The Hangover (somewhat promising) and most recently The Change-Up (awkwardly unfunny and forced) so overall I can’t say I am looking forward to this.
- Jack the Giant Slayer – I’d like Nicholas Hoult be successful so I’d like this to do well and not be his John Carter, but this fantasy story has no appeal to me. The effects sort of look awful from the trailers and if I have to look at horrible CGI giants for an entire film I’ll be beyond annoyed. I’m sure Stanley Tucci will be amazing though.
- The Last Exorcism Part II – I really liked The Last Exorcism which makes me not immediately dismiss this. Only thing is, one of the best things about the first movie is that they actually made great use of found footage with their documentary concept mostly because of their compelling lead, Patrick Fabian.This movie doesn’t have the benefit of Fabian’s presence but at least doesn’t force another found footage angle and just goes for traditional filmmaking. I appreciate that about it, and if it at least has some enjoyable scares like the first I am down with this sequel.
- Phantom – Hm, this movie is a bit of a mystery. It’s wiki page is quite sparse and I haven’t seen a trailer for it before any movies I’ve seen over the past couple months. Does that mean it will be shit? There’s Ed Harris, William Fichtner, and David Duchovney to consider but even good actors get involved in bad movies sometimes. The trailer doesn’t look too bad, but all things considered I’ll wait on some reviews to come in on this but I’m skeptical.
- Stoker – As this is one of my most anticipated movies of the year, it’s safe to say I can’t wait to sit down in the theater to watch this. Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, and Nicole Kidman all look fantastic in it and I can’t wait to figure out exactly what mystery is lurking. Even with the revealing second trailer I think I still have been able to avoid any giveaways. Here’s hoping this delivers.
MARCH 8- Dead Man Down – This actually looks really great. Noomi Rapace and Terrence Howard look like they’re killing it in their roles, and Colin Farrell is alright in my book and at least is nice to look at. I wasn’t a huge fan of Niels Arden Oplev’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but only in comparison to Fincher’s. The direction was alright, but looks even better here. The noir vibe is really selling me on this so I’ll be happy to see this in theaters.
- Oz: The Great and Powerful – The trailer for this does absolutely nothing for me but the cast is interesting enough to not rule it out completely. I’m not offended by the spin off of The Wizard of Oz because I’m sure Sam Raimi has a grand plan for it. I am definitely curious as to what that might be.
- The ABC’s of Death – I’m down for a horror anthology, expecting some weaker shorts mixed in with awesome ones and everything in between. With 26 shorts covering a huge variety of concepts there’s bound to be something exciting going on in this film. The montage trailer is enough to get me intrigued. It’s distributed by Alamo Drafthouse’s distribution company which is a great sign.
MARCH 15
- The Call – Honestly, the reason I most want to see this is because Abigail Breslin looks all grown up. I didn’t even recognize her at first. The concept itself is a bit over the top, seeing as eventually this call center operator ends up at the serial killer’s lair or whatever but if the killer’s story if good enough I could suspend my belief. Not too worried about seeing this in theaters, but perhaps a decent at home watch.
- The Incredible Burt Wonderstone – First off this is written by the duo who wrote Horrible Bosses, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, which I really enjoyed. It also featured rewrites by Jason Reitman so that’s super weird and intriguing considering how goofy this looks. The trailer managed to not garner one laugh out of me and it seems to be the lesser of the two magic movies coming out this year. I just want Carrell to stop doing this weirdo roles for awhile and just do some real shit because it’s getting old. I’d much rather see him do more like Seeking A Friend for the End of the World than Dinner for Schmucks UNLESS it’s Brick Tamland we’re talking about.
MARCH 22
- Admission – Eh, honestly if you switch out Tina Fey and Paul Rudd out with less desirable actors and I have no interest in this. Looks fairly generic and the romantic match seems off. However, it’s hard to completely write off a movie with two of the funniest people out there. There must be something interesting in there for the two of them to become attached. We’ll see on this one.
- The Croods – This looks decent. I need some kids to have an excuse or motivation to watch some animated movies.
- Olympus Has Fallen – So there’s a lot going on in this trailer–Aaron Eckhardt is the president, Gerard Butler is his guard and is seemingly dismissed for not saving the first lady in an accident, North Korean terrorists overtake the White House. And then you realize that this is actually just quite similar to the plot of Die Hard. Butler is the only person left in the White House who can help save the president and the outside people in charge aren’t too trusting of him. This looks big and explosion-y but Butler’s character does not nearly look as interesting as McClane.
MARCH 29
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation – G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was pretty decent. Sure, it was big dumb fun, but the actors didn’t seem to be taking themselves too seriously and the set pieces were entertaining. This sequel is taking on the same plot seen plenty of times before–crime fighting/military crew taken out by their own people except that not all of them die so they must band together to save America, or whatever. I’m on board for better or worse.
- The Host – Eh, it doesn’t look horrible but doesn’t look too interesting either. Meyer’s source credit doesn’t provide too much hope as far as unique storytelling but Saiorse Ronan is so incredible I sort of want to give it a free pass. Maybe she’s just looking for bigger blockbuster after starring in mostly smaller films but her choice makes me think she must have saw something significant in it.
- Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor – Not sure if I’ve laughed more in theaters so far this year. This movie couldn’t be more ridiculous if it starred a Kardash–oh wait. Ugh. Fuck off.
What are you looking forward to watching this month?