And the Oscar for Best Actress goes too...
GUESS THE QUOTE
"These pipes, are clean!"
Do you fill out Oscar "brackets" / like to predict who'll win? Cool, pay attention, because this is your weekend. No national release, but three sure to be nominated for summ'n movies - mostly in the acting categories.
Gettin cutoff? Go here, click "most recent edition."
LIMITED RELEASE SPOTLIGHT
BEN IS BACK
AKA
"Ben, you didn't even get the milk. WTF?"
R / 1 hr 43 mins
Drama / Lionsgate-Roadside-LD
WHAT'S THE DEAL
It's Julia Roberts, but with a lot less of her 'jesus, it just got bright in here' smile then you're used to. Why the lack of teeth showing? Well, her son is dealing with addiction. Wait, so it's another addiction movie like that one with Steve Carrell... Yeah, it's "another," but then you remember how many superhero movies there were this year and you remove your snarky italics. Plus, the story is different than Beautiful Boy in lots of ways; it mostly happens in real time vs flashbacks and it deals with some of the other unnerving and nasty realities of addiction - the people you owe money too, dealers, other users, the doctors who give out the drugs and more. I.e. we'd suggest you evaluate it on its own merits.
Oscar Watch: Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges, who plays her son, are strong shots at noms (although Hedges prolly gets one for Boy Erased).
REVIEWS
"What is so moving and effective about Roberts's work here is her shrewd subversion of her long-established persona." - A.O. Scott NY Times
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
(39 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: those missing Ms. Roberts, no matter how you get her
(Not): for those don't like dealing with realities of the world
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LIMITED RELEASE SPOTLIGHT
VOX LUX
AKA
"'It sounds like a vacuum, doesn't it sound like a vacuum? But like, an expensive vacuum."
R / 1 hr 52 mins
Drama / NEON
WHAT'S THE DEAL
It's a very famous person in a movie about the effects of fame on famous people. Fake famous person is a girl who goes through a school shooting and becomes a star after singing an original song after her experience. Real famous person playing fake famous (pop star) person is Natalie Portman doing a sort of Lady Gaga / Zack Morris in Zack Attack look. And speaking of the Gaga, sure, you could think of this as an indie version of A Star is Born, except without the love story, but don't go in expecting the same movie.
Oscar Watch: Ms Portman.
REVIEWS
Not unlike 2016's Jackie, seems like you come for Portman's performance, but in contrast there seems to be some themes about pop stardom that make it more than a one woman show. "A deliciously rich treatise on toxic fame and weapons of mass seduction." - The Hollywood Reporter
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%
(46 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: culture heads who like to understand the complexities of our modern idol worship
(Not): for people who think music stopped being good after Mozart
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LIMITED RELEASE SPOTLIGHT
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
AKA
"what your aunt Mary kept calling herself (in a terrible accent no less) after reading 50 pages of Outlander."
R / 1 hr 52 mins
Drama / Focus Features
WHAT'S THE DEAL
You said you wanted more really good acting? Cool. It's two game = top actresses doing their thing as capital Q-Queens. Saorise (say it with us, Ser-scha) is Queen of Scotland and Margot Robbie repping as Queen of England. They start out as "sisters," but it quickly degrades as both stake claim to rule that small, but relatively large in stature island north of France. It's allegories to today can't be denied, with two strong women dealing with the presence of men who question their judgement and power. Don't worry though, you'll still get the outfits, the bonkers wigs/makeup and posturing befitting of a movie set in the 16th century.
Oscar Watch: the two Q's. And maybe costume design?
REVIEWS
"What keeps the film from feeling like period-piece amber... is the keenly feminist sensibility of first-time director Josie Rourke and the fierce charisma and complicated humanity of its two leads, sovereigns till the end." - EW
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
(43 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: your aunt Mary because she's now obsessed with everything Scottish - and people who like good acting and cool outfits
(Not): who think the 16th century shoulda stayed in the 16th century
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ALREADY IN THEATERS + BOX OFFICE
(3-Day Weekend / Domestic Total - $ = Millions)
1) Ralph Breaks the Inter... ($25.6 / $119)
Sequel to Wreck-It-Ralph
87% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
2) The Grinch ($17.9 / $204)
The green one goes modern
57% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
3) Creed 2 (er, Creed II) ($16.6 / $81)
Adonis takes on son of Ivan Drago
82% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
4) Fantastic Beasts: The Cr... ($11.4 / $135)
Sequel to Harry Potter prequel
40% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
5) Bohemian Rhapsody ($8 / $164)
Queen / Freddie Mercury biopic
62% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
6) Instant Family ($7.2 / $46)
Mark Wahlberg / Rose Byrne adopt
81% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
7) The Possession of Han... ($6.4) NEW
Exorcism gone wrong (don't they all?)
13% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
8) Robin Hood ($4.8 / $22)
Brofest retelling of old tale
17% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
9) Widows ($4.4 / $33)
Women takeover husbands' failed heist
91% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
10) Green Book ($3.9 / $14)
Viggo Mortensen drives Mahershala Ali
82% - Trailer - Showtimes
SPIDER-MAN:
IN THE SPIDERVERSE
Animated spidey story done by the guys who made The Lego Movie. Skepticism is fair, cuz yeah it's another webslinger movie, but the reviews are saying it might be the best Spider-man film ever. Plus, the animation looks f'n rad.
MORTAL ENGINES
Cities become moving objects after some "cataclysmic event," with London as the big bad. Peter Jackson produced this one, and there's plenty of spectacle, but reviews are not kind so far.
THE MULE
Clint Eastwood becomes a drug mule accidentally (then intentionally), but DEA and cartels take issue and hinder him from making things right with his family.
LIMITED RELEASE SPOTLIGHT
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Next one from Barry Jenkins, director of Moonlight. Young couple in 70's Harlem are having a child, but the father is unjustly arrested and his partner works to free him.
HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U
February 14, 2019
Sequel to cheeky horror flick where victim has to relive her death until she solves it. Looks like it could be fun (ya know, if you're into horror stuff).
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CAPTAIN MARVEL
March 8, 2019
Second trailer. First solely female led Marvel movie. Brie Larson gets the powers. Set in the 1990's.
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BREAKTHROUGH
April 12, 2019
Faith flick about a kid who almost dies after falling through the ice, but doesn't. Yes, of course it's based on true story.
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