Here to take a look at the films coming out in wide and limited release this coming weekend. In this weekly film guide, I’ll give you my thoughts to help you decide what’s worth checking out.
WIDE RELEASES
Directed by David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch)
Starring Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnamin, Viola Davis
Poor Suicide Squad. It seems doomed before it even had a shot to succeed with all these negative reviews coming in. It actually looked like the most unique superhero movie to come out in awhile, so it’s a bummer that it apparently doesn’t live up to potential. If I’m being honest, 98% of my desire to see this was all Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. It seems like a performance not to be missed and I still want to see it if for her. Hopefully they can still work her character into future DC movies (maybe that Ben Affleck-directed Batman movie?). I don’t know if I was ever going to see this in theaters, but now it seems pretty much a solid bet that it’s worth waiting to see at home. Check out Nick’s review up on the site now to read all about his disappointment despite really wanting to like this movie.
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black series, RV)
Starring Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Garner, Robbie Amell, Cheryl Hines
When I heard about the premise for this I assumed it was going to be like a Sausage Party-esque adult riff on the cliche family-friendly movie. But no, this is actually a completely serious movie where Kevin Spacey plays a character named Mr. Fuzzypants. It’s the classic body swapping premise (please tell me there’s at least a scene with Spacey acting as if a cat is stuck in his body), where the man must find a way to return to his own body. It looks so damn corny.
LIMITED RELEASES
Directed by Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda)
Starring Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, Riley Osborne
Netflix is releasing this beloved by Cannes French animated film (featuring lots of favorite actors’ voices). It’s sporting a fantastic score on Rotten Tomatoes and already picked up an award in France. I enjoy how the animation style switches from computer animation in the real world segment and the stop motion in the fantasy world. I love stop motion and this film looks incredibly beautiful in that style. The story sounds cute enough (although it’s totally shitting on being an adult and how much it sucks, which okay sure but you don’t have to rub it in!). It kind of reminds me of Peter Pan and the idea of not wanting to grow up. Despite usually not caring about animated movies, I actually want to check this out. The fact that I can simply stream it on Netflix definitely helps.
Directed by Joe Begos (Almost Human)
Starring Graham Skipper, Lauren Ashley Carter, John Speredakos
Our resident horror fanatic Nate (although to be fair most of us are pretty obsessed with the genre) brought this indie to my attention earlier this week, and it seems worthy of a spotlight. It has fans and detractors so far (only has a 53% on RT as of the writing of this post), but it’s earned comparisons to De Palma and Cronenberg as far as style and use of body horror which has my attention. It’s use of effects is praised and that can really earn major props for me even if other elements of the movie may be lacking. If you’re looking for a horror movie available on VOD, this might be just worthy enough for a watch.
