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.
- Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – While on vacation In Vegas from his mall cop profession, Paul becomes caught in the mix of an ordeal that requires his mall copping abilities.
Directed by Andy Fickman (Parental Guidance, You Again)
Starring Kevin James, Raini Rodriguez, Eduardo Verástegui
This is… not for me. I saw the trailer before a movie and couldn’t understand who would want to watch this movie or why. But then the mass amounts of laughter in the theater showed me wrong. I guess I can understand that for a night at the movies a bunch of goofy physical comedy bits by fan favorite Kevin James fits the bill for a lot of people. Every time he hit into something a new wave of laughter would start. I sure won’t be seeing this but I’m sure its intended audience will it enjoy it just fine. - Unfriended – In this modern tech horror flick, a group of teens on a video chat are simultaneously experiencing a supernatural presence.
Directed by Levan Gabriadze (Lucky Trouble)
Starring Heather Sossaman, Matthew Bohrer, Courtney Halverson
This concept just looks really silly, and doesn’t seem like it could keep the momentum up for a movie’s length. It’s a teen horror movie with a gimmick, which isn’t exactly fresh these days. The production apparently would run through the movie in a single take so the actors could keep their energy up which is a cool tidbit. I do tend to give a lot of horror movies a chance, so if the reviews come back somewhat positive I might not completely rule this out. Fellow FTS-mate Will will have a review up for this tomorrow. - And Monkey Kingdom, the latest animal doc.
- Alex of Venice – A woman left by her husband is forced to make a fresh start.
Directed by Chris Messina (directorial debut!)
Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Messina, Don Johnson, Katie Nehra, Derek Luke
This definitely doesn’t look like the freshest of concepts, but it does look like a sweet little slice-of-life movie that you wouldn’t regret watching. I feel somewhat of an obligation to support the under-appreciated Chris Messina in all his pursuits so I’m sure I’ll see this at some point. I am very interested to see what he offers as director, especially after seeing some nice things said so far in the Rotten Tomatoes snippets. - True Story – A journalist forms a connection with an accused killer who took on his name while on the run as a fugitive.
Written & directed by Rupert Goold (directorial debut!)
Starring James Franco, Jonah Hill, Felicity Jones
I read about this story a few years ago and thought it was so fascinating. I caught a screening of this (review up tomorrow!), and I definitely enjoyed it. There’s not a ton of meaty bits for it to reach true thriller levels, but I think it’s pretty interesting as a character piece between the two men involved. - Child 44 – A Russian former agent investigates a serial killer of children.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Easy Money [Snabba cash])
Starring Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace, our Babe of the Week Joel Kinnaman, Jason Clarke
This really has a lot on paper – an interesting cast, dark storyline, based on a very well-received thriller novel. I’m not sure how well it will come across in the final product. I don’t know if it’s just the accents (they sound so cartoonish) or what. Even though it doesn’t feel accurate at all when actors just use their own accents when their character is supposed to be a certain nationality (like Daniel Craig in Dragon Tattoo), it might seem a little lazy, but at least he didn’t sound silly. If you’re going to speak English anyway then what does it matter. Funny enough, Russia won’t even show it in theaters because they say the movie makes Soviet Union look like Mordor.
