Here to take a look at the films coming out in wide and limited release this coming weekend. I’ll give you my thoughts to help you decide what’s worth checking out.
- Cinderella – The same story you already know – pretty maiden forced to be a housekeeper by her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Bippity boppity boo. Dances with a prince. Leaves glass slipper. There you go.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh (Thor, a bunch of Shakespeare adaptations)
Starring Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter
Unlike Maleficent, this latest fairytale/Disney adaptation doesn’t really appear as much of a play on the story that we already know. It’s leaning quite heavily on looking like a by-the-Cinderella-numbers version. The first trailer basically showed you all the same beats from the Disney cartoon so that you really didn’t even need to imagine what certain big scenes were going to look like (oh, there’s the pumpkin turning into a carriage! isn’t that nice?). Ultimately it looks fairly harmless even if it’s completely unnecessary. - Run All Night – A mobster has to protect his son who’s wronged his fellow mobster.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop, Unknown)
Starring Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman
Same old same, right? Liam running about being a badass. This is his third time making this sort of movie with the same director, so I suppose they have fun with it which is cool. This is like the definition of a movie that you would throw on cable when there’s not much else going on. The one thing that gives me pause is that Joel Kinnaman is in this, and I miss Holder very much. I really hope his career blows up because he’s just so great. Later this year he’ll be in Terrence Malick’s latest, Knight of Cups, and a thriller co-starring Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace, Child 44. Hopefully one of those will be a little more attention-worthy than what looks like a run-of-the-mill action movie.
- It Follows – After a sexual encounter, a girl appears to be haunted (or followed) by some enigmatic presence.
Directed by David Robert Mitchell (The Myth of the American Sleepover)
Starring Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi
Can’t wait to see this! What a great trailer – it’s so creepy and mysterious with an old school vibe. I’m really not sure what exactly is going on, but I’m ready to find out. Maika Monroe played the sister in The Guest (which is awesome!) and I’m excited to see her in another role. This is certainly the quality horror film I’ve been waiting to see for awhile now.
Playing in select theaters and available through video on demand
