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.
- Southpaw – When a boxer loses his wife and hold on life, he uses a new fight to get back on track.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Oona Laurence, 50 Cent, Babe of the Week Naomie Harris
Gyllenhaal enthusiast that I am, it disappoints me how little excitement I can muster towards this movie. It looks very been-there-done-that. If it weren’t for Jake I’d probably plan on never seeing it at all. It rubbed me the wrong way how the trailer reveals such a huge part of the plot. Maybe viewers would feel betrayed if the trailer was cut in a misleading way that concealed it it, but it also would’ve been such a shock if you didn’t find out til you were in the theater. Lindsay’s review will be up on the site soon. - Pixels – An alien threat uses 1980’s video arcade game characters as models for weapons when attacking the Earth.
Directed by Chris Columbus
Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage
This is an alternate reality where Kevin James is the President of the United States and his childhood best friend is Adam Sandler. They must team up to take down all our favorite arcade game characters. The silly idea and element of nostalgia could have been well executed in the right hands I believe. This does not seem to have worked out with this group of filmmakers though. It’s written by Sandler’s past movie screenwriters, so I expect the humor to be much of the same. The reviews have been abysmal which just clutches that this is one to skip. - Paper Towns – A high schooler is on a mission to track down his missing crush after spending an exciting night with her, and in the meantime gets to know the real person behind the mystery.
Directed by Jake Schreier
Starring Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams, Justice Smith, Halston Sage
I’ve read most of John Green’s books at this point and enjoyed them all for different reasons. He’s a sharp, humorous writer that certainly has a knack for young adult stories. In The Fault in Our Stars he aimed to reveal the real lives and feelings behind sick people who tend to be generalized and seen mostly for their illness. It played well on screen as it’s mostly about characters and a love story. In Paper Towns his aim is more to tear down the ideas we create about people in our heads when we see them in an amorous light. He’s openly said this book was a response to the idea of the manic pixie dream girl. It plays very well on the page, but I immediately recognized it might be hard to come across on the screen, especially since the plot itself isn’t all that cinematic. It’s mostly told in the mind of our lead character Quentin and I’m not sure if his thoughts could be adequately told on screen. I still plan to check this out just to see how it compares to the novel (and to see how Cara Delevingne performs), but Lindsay’s lukewarm response (read her review here) makes me feel my apprehensions might have been spot on.
