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.
- Krampus – A family must ward off the evil Krampus on Christmas night.
Directed by Michael Dougherty (Trick ‘r Treat)
Starring Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman
I’m excited for this one! I love a good holiday horror flick, and this seems like just the right movie to break up the bloat of Oscar-y movies around this time. It certainly helps that the film is made by the same director responsible for one of my favorite Halloween movies, Trick ‘r Treat. That movie is just a whole lot of fun and visually quite awesome, so if he’s giving the same treatment to a Christmas horror tale that sounds like a winner to me. It’s bound to be scary but with a great amount of humor mixed in the tale. Also, Adam Scott seems like a perfect fit here. Hoping to catch this one in theaters.
- Macbeth – The latest adaptation about of the Shakespeare classic about a Scottish man driven to commit awful acts in order to rise in the political ranks.
Directed by Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders)
Starring Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Paddy Considine, Sean Harris
I saw this back in October while visiting London, and it would definitely be a divisive recommendation. If you’re not into Shakespeare, you can pretty much avoid this as it’s a very direct adaptation from the play. There’s no real updating as far as that goes. However, it is a very beautiful and well-acted film, so it’s very much worth seeing for that. The cinematography is next level, incredibly vibrant and beautiful. Although you only get to see Fassbender in his undies for a hot second, he gives a great performance as we’ve grown accustomed. It’s not the big awards contender I think it was once seen as, perhaps because it doesn’t go above and beyond the source material, but it is nice filmmaking. - Night Owls – In this offbeat romantic comedy a one night stand goes awry when the woman attempts suicide.
Directed by Charles Hood
Starring Adam Pally, Rosa Salazar, Rob Huebel, Tony Hale
I came to really like Pally during his stint on The Mindy Project. He definitely has a doofy charm when it comes to comedy. This is his first leading performance, and it’s definitely a little movie, but it was apparently received quite well at SXSW. You can catch it on VOD so it might be a decent watch if you want something random that could surprise you. I’ll likely wait to check it out if/when it hits Netflix Instant. - Chi-Raq – A satirical take on the intense violence in Chicago, where the women in the city band together to withhold sex until they lay down their guns.
Directed by Spike Lee (Old Boy, Do The Right Thing)
Starring Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack
Well this certainly looks and sounds like a Spike Lee movie. It’s quite stylized with a political message. I’m not sure how I feel about the idea behind the film, with the women refusing to have sex and all, but apparently it’s based on a classical Greek play. It’s an interesting idea to update that to make a statement on Chicago’s issues with gang violence, but I do wonder how it will play. I really love Do The Right Thing so I see this as potentially entertaining and well done if it’s not just completely off the rails and ridiculous.
