GUESS THE QUOTE
"Vous au moins, vous ne risquez pas d'être
un légume, puisque même
un artichaut a du coeur."
Heads up you should see Parasite expand to even more of the country as well as The Lighthouse and Jojo Rabbit start to go wider.
Cutoff? Go here, click "most recent edition."
BLACK AND BLUE
AKA
"honestly? Not the most flattering color combo"
R / 1 hr 48 mins
Action-Drama-Thriller /
Screen Gems (Sony)
WHAT'S THE DEAL
In One Line: An otherwise fairly straightforward looking "dirty cop" thriller that tries to dip into cultural and racial themes.
It can take a long time to get a leading role. Ya know, the person who gets to spend basically the whole time on screen. Even if you're a really good actor, like Naomie Harris is. Even if you've already starred in a bunch of great stuff, including a best picture Oscar Winner, a massive franchise, or a modern horror classic, like Naomie Harris has.
So we can't fault her for taking a shot on a movie like Black and Blue. A movie that on the surface is trying to present some deeper notions about race and power while also shooting to be an "edge of your seat" action thriller about dirty cops who chase down a rookie cop sees something she shouldn't have. But instead looks to be more of a "the edge? Nah, I'm cool to recline" action milder that touches on, but probably doesn't shift the conversation for, some of these difficult but ultimately necessary societal conversations.
But hey, she's the lead of a national theatrical release and we're... not. So good on her. But also good on you if you decide you'd rather wait until her next leading role.
Note: co-stars Tyrese Gibson as her childhood pal who is the only one to help while she's being attacked from all sides.
REVIEWS
Harris getting love, but the film itself it still being ribbed for its sameness and lack of depth in the cultural issues one supposes it'll address.
"Not even the considerable talents of the ever watchable Naomie Harris can elevate Black And Blue above the broad and generic. The result is sadly aggressively formulaic." Ian Freer, Empire
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 61%
(18 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: you love a good dirty cop flick every once and awhile, even if it's pretty similar to the one you saw a while back
(Not): you fulfilled your cop quota with 20+ years of Law & Order
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COUNTDOWN
AKA
"you're tryin to order an Uber
at the end of the night and
your battery keeps dropping 3%...2%...1%..."
PG-13 / 1 hr 39 mins
Horror / STX
WHAT'S THE DEAL
In One Line: A movie you n app tells you when you're going to die.
Your phone is killing you. Well, at least that's what the "study says" headlines would lead one to believe. But the even if that is the case (whiiiiich is debatable), a slow decline via a desperate need for more likes is not very cinitilating. So Countdown takes the broad notion of your phone as a life taker and ya know, horrors it up with what looks like the classic combination of unwitting teens and ghouls who, for some reason, sleep in bed with you and scare you vs idk, ripping your guts open while you're completely venerable? But sure, the public needs their scaries, so Countdown will try and provide them to you with dark hallways, evil creatures with creepily long fingernails and of course, through it all, an app that tells you when you're going to die.
Btw, last week we said this was a combination of The Ring and Final Destination. Might be worth adding Jexi into that mix. Partly for the phone thing. But mostly for the schlock thing.
REVIEWS
None yet! But don't bank on much.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: TBD
(o reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: your greatest fear in life is driving into an area without cell service
(Not): you still say "why would I want a Twitter, who cares about what I ate for dinner?"
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THE CURRENT WAR
AKA
"wait, which one?"
NR / 1 hr 41 mins
Drama-Biopic"ish" / 101 Studios
WHAT'S THE DEAL
In One Line: A two year delayed take on the, ahem, electric battle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse (aided by Nikola Tesla) to power the country, but also a great example of a bunch of well known actors making a movie that in five years time people will go, when did they do that?
There is so much effort that goes into making a movie. Not just the actual production, but all the structural things behind it: the script writing, the executive meetings, the marketing etc. etc. etc. It's a lot. So when a finished movie is set to be released and then the human trash bin that is Harvey Weinstein screws it all up by proxy, anyone involved in the film would have a right to feel distraught, and angry. You see, this was originally to be release by The Weinstein Company. And then, well, someone finally took out the garbage as you might say. But this left a lot of projects, including The Current War in limbo. Until a group of former TWC people formed a new company, bought the rights (which, agreed, still feels a bit eeeeehhhhh) and decided to give the director full rights after Weinstein chopped it up to his liking, hence the "Director's Cut" (10 minutes shorter, some tonal things with Edison blah blah blah).
Look, that's a lot of insider Hollywood bullshit you probably don't care about. You just wanna know should I see this god damn movie about the battle for electricity supremacy (where Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) battle it out) or not? Probably not. But maybe. If you're suuuper into historical biopic-ish movies or a Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult) devotee who thinks he doesn't get enough credit - and there are plenty of you, including the king himself, The Oatmeal. But for the rest of us? It's likely to be a bit of a swing and miss. Or maybe more of a bunt. Whatever, some sports analogy. Which is fine. Even a group of great actors can make a just ok movie. But after all this movie went through, it sure would've been nice for it to be better than ok.
Note: the runtime is 101 minutes, the brand new studio releasing it (this is their first movie) is called 101 Studios. Hmmmm
REVIEWS
So, the movie was originally screened at the Toronto film festival in 2017 and reviews were not great. But sure, this is the "Director's Cut," so reviews could've changed. So far, pretty much the same story. But more to the point, not many reviewers are likely to watch this second version.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%
(15 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: see the "you're suuuuper into historical biopic-ish movies or a Nikola Tesla devotee" part above, or not since we just typed it again for you
(Not): you think the past is just that, and no need to bring it into the future
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ALREADY IN THEATERS + BOX OFFICE
(3-Day Weekend / Domestic Total - $ = millions)
1) Maleficent: Mistress of... ($36.9) NEW
Angelina Jolie Sleeping Beauty sequel
40% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
2) Joker ($29.2 / $247)
Dark origin story for smiling bat nemesis
68% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
3) Zombieland: Double Tap ($26.8) NEW
More nutting up and not shutting up
66% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
4) The Addams Family ($16.3 / $57)
Animated take on the macabre family unit
40% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
5) Gemini Man ($8.3 / $36)
Younger Will Smith v Older Will Smith
25% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
6) Abominable ($3.5 / $54)
DreamWorks Animation yeti movie
83% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
7) Downton Abbey ($3.1 / $89)
Crawleys involved in some drama per yuzh
85% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
8) Judy ($2.1 / $19)
Judy Garland biopic w/ Renee Zellweger
83% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
9) Hustlers ($2 / $102)
J-Lo and Constance Wu strip & steal
88% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
10) IT: Chapter Two ($1.5 / $210)
The Losers Club v Pennywise: Round 2
63% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
HARRIET
Harriet Tubman biopic (starring Cynthia Erivo, one of the better parts of Bad Times at the El Royal) telling the story of her own escape as well as the many she helped facilitate. Reviews saying it's laudable, but a bit standard for a portrayal of such a remarkable person.
TERMINATOR:
DARK FATE
It's a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgement Day. But what about Terminator 3 or Terminator Salvation, or 2015's Terminator Genisys? Yeah well, you can forget about those. Because they're bad? Well, sort of, but more because James Cameron is back producing and Linda Hamilton is back acting in a Terminator movie for the first time since T2 so they just threw everything else out. Early reviews say it's probably better than the other non-sequels sequels, but still can't live up to the past (what can?).
MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN
Written/directed by and starring Edward Norton. Basically a classic noir set in the 50's where Norton plays a gumshoe who has Tourette Syndrome and is trying to solve the murder of his mentor (Bruce Willis). Also has Willem DaFoe, Alec Baldwin and lots of other recognizable faces. Early reviews are just ok, but applauding the effort.
LIMITED RELEASE SPOTLIGHT
THE IRISHMAN
Martin Scorsese gets Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino together in an epic, and epicly long (3+ hours), story about the guy who *may* have been involved in Jimmy Hoffa's death. Still sitting at 100% on RT with over 80 reviews.
Note: Netflix film so it will not expand (big theater chains and Netflix are not friends) and it'll be on The Flix starting November 27th.
MARRIAGE STORY
November 6, 2019
Fuller trailer. Noah Baumbach movie where Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson play a married couple dealing with the strains of their relationship, which ultimately leads to divorce (or does it?).
Note: Netflix movie and will be on there December 6th.
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STAR WARS:
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
December 6, 2019
"Final" trailer. The end of the Skywalker story. JJ Abrams stepping back in (he directed The Force Awakens) to finish it all.
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BLOODSHOT
February 21, 2020
Vin Diesel in a very Vin Diesel movie where he plays a killed soldier brought back to life and "nano-enhanced." Based on the comic-book. To be fair, it does look like the better version of a Vin Diesel movie, if still pretty samey. But more importantly, stars Winston from New Girl!
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PETER RABBIT 2:
THE RUNAWAY
April 3, 2020
More of the wascally wabbit.
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ANTLERS
April 17, 2020
Full trailer. A kid has some very messed up stuff happening at home and his teacher (Keri Russell) and her brother, the sheriff, get involved. Likely to their detriment. Produced by Guillermo Del Toro and directed by Scott Cooper (Black Mass, Crazy Heart).
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