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.
- Jem and the Holograms – A girl rises to stardom in a pop band alongside her sisters.
Directed by John M. Chu (G.I. Joe: Retaliation)
Starring Aubrey Peeples, Stefanie Scott, Aurora Perrineau, Molly Ringwald
I don’t see this movie doing well. It might have gone with a more Pitch Perfect-esque tone and humor and possibly done well, but there’s nothing charismatic in this trailer. Not to mention it ignores the weirder parts of the cartoon it’s based on, losing anything that might have made this a fun, cult-y movie. Even the Josie and the Pussycats movie has its fans because of its tongue-in-cheek tone, but unless this hits big with a younger female audience, I doubt this will do the same. - The Last Witch Hunter – A badass witch hunter goes head to head with some evil witches.
Directed by Breck Eisner (The Crazies, Sahara)
Starring Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood
This could totally hit big with the Van Helsing/Underworld fans plus all the Vin Diesel fans. No matter how dumb I think it looks. I feel like I’ve been seeing trailers for this for a year and I’m ready for that to end. This just looks so silly without any originality behind it. This could potentially be fun to watch while drinking beers with friends and riffing off it though, I’ll give it that. - Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension – Dammit Toby! He’s back at it, haunting a family who finds old tapes of those adorable sisters from Paranormal Activity 3.
Directed by Gregory Plotkin (directorial debut!)
Starring Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy George
I think the first three Paranormal Activity movies are great. The fourth one was pretty bad and just didn’t build on the cool stories we’d seen developing. I fell asleep halfway through The Marked Ones and never returned because it just didn’t seem that exciting. I did hear that the end has an interesting connection to the other films. Now this new one is another modern day story but it connects to the young girls in the third movie, so I think that could be interesting. It just sucks that a lot of the trailer shows some cheap effects and scares that I think will take away from the movie. The earlier movies mostly build tension and scares without resorting to those techniques which makes them so much more impressive. - Rock the Kasbah – A struggling band manager takes an act to tour Afghanistan and finds a new talent that might revitalize his career and passion.
Directed by Barry Levinson (What Just Happened, Rain Man)
Starring Bill Murray, Leem Lubany, Babe of the Week Zooey Deschanel, Kate Hudson, Bruce Willis
I’d like this to look good, but it just feels a bit flat from the trailer. You might say that same about St. Vincent though and that turned out to be a nice, sweet watch. Only thing is, all the reviews thus far have been dismal. Like under 10% on Rotten Tomatoes bad. It’s really hard to ignore that kind of number. Bill Murray is always lovable, but apparently this film just doesn’t do a very good job using his talents. It’s a shame. This must be the most rotten weekend at the movies for awhile actually. Which might be okay if you’re trying to catch up on some other better looking movies that have come out over the past month like I have.
- Suffragette – Women fight for their rights during the English suffragette movement.
Directed by Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane)
Starring Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Meryl Streep
I feel like I should really want to see this, yet I feel like I did about Bridge of Spies. It just looks like a kind of boring historical drama. It’s certainly a cause I feel extremely passionate about and I’m sure I’ll get choked up if I eventually see this, but it’s not hooking me based on the trailer. This might also be that I am incredibly lukewarm towards Carey Mulligan. The only role I’ve truly liked her in was An Education. Other than that I just think she’s okay. If someone like Felicity Jones was starring in this I might be more interested, but I still don’t think it looks very exciting. If nothing else, this could make your watch list if you want to see all the Oscar contenders.
