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.
- In The Heart of the Sea – The true story behind the novel Moby Dick about a ship destroyed by a whale.
Directed by Ron Howard (Rush, A Beautiful Mind)
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw
This looks like a very action-y drama with the right ingredients, but nothing to inspire much excitement. It could be entertaining and Ron Howard seems like a great choice to bring this to screen, but with everything else going on in theaters this month this is bound to slip by without much notice. Also working against this is how mediocre the reviews have been, with it currently at 47% on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t think it will be scoring well at the box office either. Maybe at another slower time at the theater it could have done better, but right now it’s completely lost in the shuffle. - Legend (expanding wide) – The story of twin brothers who were prominent gangsters in 1960’s London.
Directed by Brian Helgeland (42, A Knight’s Tale)
Starring Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Taron Egerton, Christopher Eccleston, Paul Bettany
Well this just looks like great fun. It’s freaking Tom Hardy TWICE. I think most movies could use twice as much Hardy as it is. If there’s an actor that not only would thrive in a challenging role like this, but really have fun with it he’s definitely the one. I like movies about gangsters too and that makes it even more interesting, but I think I could watch Hardy in just about anything. I mean I watched him drive and talk on the phone about concrete for a couple hours so this should be cake. Reviews haven’t been overly positive, but that still won’t stop me from catching this at some point, even if it’s at home.
- The Big Short – About the men who realized banks were on the verge of a collapse and try to do something about it.
Directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, The Other Guys)
Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt
Yes, the movie of many wigs. So many bad wigs and hair styles. I must say though, just the idea of seeing Gosling on the screen after his long absence makes me watch to check this out. I miss him so much, especially after his adorable performance on Saturday Night Live. The rest of the cast is fine too, I guess. As far as the trailer, I’m not quite sure about the tone, but I am very intrigued that Adam McKay wrote & directed. The Other Guys touched on just this theme (here’s the awesome infographic credits for a rewatch), albeit in a much sillier way plot-wise. It’s obviously something he cares about. It’s going to be interesting how he tackle a genre that’s so different from the rest of his movies. - Don Verdean – A devout archaeologist fakes some finds in order to please a church who’s tasked him with finding some artifacts.
Directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre)
Starring Sam Rockwell, Amy Ryan, Jemaine Clement, Will Forte, Danny McBride, Leslie Bibb
This doesn’t look as bizarre as Jared Hess’s other movies so he might be trying to get more mainstream. Or maybe they are just hiding his trademark weird humor in the trailer. I’m really into this cast (love seeing Amy Ryan in a comedy) and the concept has a lot of potential. It just doesn’t seem that funny. I’m somewhat worried that after Gentleman Broncos didn’t come together very well Hess wanted to tone down that side of his movies, but I just hope it didn’t make it completely dull.
