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GUESS THE QUOTE
"There's 106 miles to Chicago,
we've got a full tank of gas,
half a pack of cigarettes,
it's dark out,
and we're wearing sunglasses."
So Hustlers made that money last weekend eh? How fitting.
Cutoff? Go here, click "most recent edition."
AD ASTRA
AKA
"To the stars. Literally"
PG-13 / 2 hrs 4 mins
Sci-Fi-Drama-Mystery / Fox (Disney)
WHAT'S THE DEAL
In One Line: A more thoughtful sci-fi flick where Brad Pitt is trying to save the planet, and get his second Oscar nomination of the year.
It's Brad Pitt. It's space. It's the future. It's science fiction. It's Michael Bay... wait a minute. *checks notes* Right, scratch that last one and replace it with "It's James Gray." Don't wanna screw that one up, because it's a biggie. Some might see Pitt future set sci-fi space movie and expect a big budget special effects driven action movie a la Armaggeddon, but that's where the director (James Gray, Lost City of Z) comes in and mixes it all up.
Now, to be fair, there are plenty of effects, and the budget is probably pretty decent on this movie. But it's not the center of the story, which is much more human - even as homo sapiens are searching for the alien(s). Pitt is the focus of this endeavor, which was originally started by his father who perished in the effort. Or so everyone thought.
Cut to years later when weird shit starts happening (as in cosmic ray bursts killing thousands of people on earth weird) and then everyone gets to thinkin, er, maybe not. This leads to Pitt traveling to the moon and then on to Mars to try and communicate with his (potentially still alive) father. Which is a ton of distance to cover, physically. But Pitt's character is no stranger to distance, with a failed marriage, little personal life and a relationship with his father that drove him to battle space pirates (yup) just to get in touch one last time. Because what's more human than traveling millions of miles through outer space just to find a sense of home?
Btw, if you watch the trailers, you might be surprised by how much they left out (an almost Vegas like Moon colony, dogs on Mars and more), but it should all make sense once you come back down to earth.
REVIEWS
Reviews are pretty emphatic in their praise, and especially for Pitt, but lots of love for the director, Gray, too.
"Pitt is undoubtedly luminous as the brightest star of "Ad Astra," an engaging and even hopeful exploration about the consistency of human feelings, no matter where you are in the galaxy." - Brian Truitt, USA Today
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%
(117 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: you liked the idea of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, but thought it got a little too deep into the "spacey" stuff (read: pushing books off a shelf as a little physics monster)
(Not): you hated (the idea of) Interstellar
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DOWNTON ABBEY
AKA
"D.R.A.M.A"
R / 1 hr 30 mins
Draaaaaama / Focus Features
WHAT'S THE DEAL
In One Line: An oversized episode of the popular show where the Queen & King give the Crawley's a tinkle on the blower and ask to come check out Downton.
Darlings, is there anything better than a family of disgustingly wealthy British aristocrats who are sometimes snide jerks to their dutiful house staff, but who are also intermittently thoughtful and sweet to their bell attenders - which buys them juuuust enough of your goodwill to care about their troubles?
Well yeah, of course there is.
But not all pleasures need be high on nutritional brain value. Sometimes you just wanna have a spot of tea, pinky finger the hell up, and watch Lady Mary drop some shade on Lady Edith, or coo and aww at Anna and Mr. Bates. Cuz this is Downton fuckin Abbey, where the postures are rigid, the smiles are fake, and the dust bunnies are murdered mercilessly.
But how in the world do you up the stakes for the Crawley's and their help after showing nearly every aspect of their lives over the course of six (very successful) seasons on TV? By asking for help from the Queen & King of course; who will be making a visit, and bringing the raised blood pressure along with them.
Sucks for the keepers of Downton, but great for those of us in the world who want to watch a compelling, if slightly (correction: massively) overly rosey, portrait of "the old days."
Notes: timeline wise, things take place soon after the last season of the show / Julian Fellowes who created the series is back for writing duties.
REVIEWS
"The film is delightful fun, even though the plot is obvious almost to the point of stupidity, and there are few surprises for the well-known characters, some of whom are handed unnecessary subplots to give everyone some screen time." Caryn James, BBC.com
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%
(89 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: you watched at least one full season of the show
(Not): you think Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham is a supervillain in the Marvel universe (side thought: she probably could've taken on Thanos with her verbal barbs alone)
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RAMBO:
LAST BLOOD
AKA
"CPAC: Fall Edition"
R / 1 hr 29 mins
Action / Lionsgate
WHAT'S THE DEAL
In One Line: It's Rambo.
We don't want to dimunitize a movie franchise that has been able to sustain for over nearly 40 years, but you really don't need much explanation here. "Rambo" is so well known it's the definitive cultural reference for something/someone that is violently aggressive and associated with 'Merica in a way few things are.
We could tell you Sylvester Stallone is 73 and still kickin more ass than a person seventy years his junior (wait a second...) in an effort to save his niece who has been abducted by a Mexican cartel.
And we could tell you this is intended as the final Rambo, considered it is subtitled "Last Blood" (a reference to the original and best reviewed Rambo movie, First Blood), buuuut we bet Sly is already secretly setting up plans to release one last gasp from the grave titled Rambo: See You in Hell, because HOW AWESOME WOULD THAT BE?! That and he's already talk about ideas for a sixth movie.
However, none of that matters, because this is Rambo, and you know exactly what that means.
REVIEWS
Only 13 reviews so not quite there in real consensus yet, except that it's violent and that's probably most of what you'll get from it.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 46%
(13 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: you still watch any of the Rambos anytime you're flipping through the cable channels
(Not): what hell is cable TV?
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ALREADY IN THEATERS + BOX OFFICE
(3-Day Weekend / Domestic Total - $ = millions)
1) IT: Chapter Two ($39.6 / $153)
The Losers Club v Pennywise: Round 2
64% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
2) Hustlers ($33.2) NEW
J-Lo and Constance Wu strip & steal
88% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
3) Angel Has Fallen ($4.5 / $60)
Gerard Butler threequel action movie
39% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
4) Good Boys ($4.2 / $73)
Superbad Jr.
79% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
5) The Lion King ($3.6 / $534)
Live action(?) remake
52% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
6) Hobbs & Shaw ($2.8 / $168)
The Rock and Jason Statham F & F spinoff
67% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
7) Overcomer ($2.7 / $29)
Christian sports movie
45% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
8) The Goldfinch ($2.7) NEW
Boy deals w/ death of mother
26% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
9) The Peanut Butter Falcon ($1.8 / $15)
Shia Labeouf "Mark Twain-like "adventure
95% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
10) Dora and The Lost City... ($1.8 / $57)
Bilingual kiddie adventurer comes to life
83% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
ABOMINABLE
A girl in China discovers a Yeti on the lamb from some evil scientists. Oh, the Yeti can also do magic. Next one from Dreamworks Animation. The China aspect is notable as it's a co-production with Pearl, a Chinese production company that was started in part by Dreamworks.
LIMITED RELEASE SPOTLIGHT
JUDY
Renee Zellweger plays Judy Garland in her last months. Reviews are already out and they're good, and they say Zellweger is too.
COUNTDOWN
October 25, 2019
Cheesy horror movie that is basically Final Destination, except there's an app that tells you when you're gonna die.
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Apple Google Outlook
MIDWAY
November 8, 2019
Full trailer. The Battle of Midway as told by Roland Emmerich, the director of Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and lots other big spectacle movies. Stars every squared jawed white guy in Hollywood (seriously), including: Luke Evans, Patrick Wilson, Aaron Eckhart, Ed Skrein and... Nick Jonas with a mustache? lololol
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FORD V FERRARI
November 15, 2019
Second trailer. Matt Damon is famous car designer Shelby who gets hired by Ford to build a race car to beat, yup, Ferrari. Christian Bale be the driver. Directed by James Mangold who also did Logan, 3:10 to Yuma, and Walk the Line. Already has a bunch of (solid) reviews.
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DARK WATERS
November 22, 2019
Kind of like the thriller version of Erin Brockovich, cept Mark Ruffalo is Brockovich and instead of being a feisty non-lawyer, he's a corporate shill who turns to the other side. But regardless, water is still being polluted and people be tryin to stop it. Also stars Anne Hathaway and Tim Robbins. Directed by Todd Haynes (Carol, Far From Heaven).
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KNIVES OUT
November 27, 2019
Second trailer. Rian Johnson's next movie (Stars Wars: The Last Jedi, Looper, Brick). It's a whodunit where Daniel Craig is the cooky detective with help from Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta) who investigate the death of the patriarch of a very genetically blessed family. Played at the Toronto Film Festival and reviews are really good.
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QUEEN AND SLIM
November 27, 2019
Second trailer. Written by Lena Waithe (created the The Chi, acts on Master of None), a black couple is on a date when they're pulled over by a white cop. Things go south and the cop is shot by the man, Daniel Kaluuya, and the couple go on the run turning into a sort of Bonnie and Clyde.
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LIKE A BOSS
January 10, 2020
Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne goin full mainstream comedy to battle Salma Hayek over a cosmetics company.
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