"This is worse than the time
the raccoon got in the copier."
PINNED: this newsletter is supposed to be a friendly recapping of the movies in, and coming to, theaters. But things be real weird right now. So until that changes in earnest, I'll either be suggesting old favorites to revisit, pointing out recent flicks you may have missed or calling out notable new VOD / streaming options.
There probably won't be a song written about it, but last week was the week that theatrical movies died (for 2020 at least...?). As I hit on last week, the new Bond, No Time to Die, is a big deal for MGM and they couldn't risk a meager return, so they pushed it back to Easter of next year (although even that still feels tenuous). Warner Brothers, which probably has(d) the biggest movies still on the 2020 docket, moved a bunch of their stuff - including Dune to Oct. 1 2021 ( 😭), which shifted The Batman to 2022, plus a bunch of other changes (although The Matrix 4 did get moved up to Xmas next year). No word on Wonder Woman 1984, though I did see rumors of a premium home release...
With all those changes, Regal Cinemas, the second largest theater chain in North America, decided to shut down indefinitely*. A thing that'll make you go hmmm regarding the status of other notable movies still scheduled for this year, like: Pixar's Soul, The Croods: A New Age, Ryan Reynold's video game based Free Guy, Eddie Murphy's Coming 2 America, the murder mystery Death on the Nile and a Tom Hanks / Paul Greengrass western colab, News of the World.
*For what it's worth, AMC and Cinemark, the number one and three exhibitors, respectively, are staying open for now.
TRAILERS! So many I highlighted six. Make sure to scroll down to the end and peep.
This Week's Theme: "underseen earthly bound sci-fi."
They're all a bit dark in theme, but the lightest is probably Colossal, for what it's worth.
COLOSSAL
(2017)
Anne Hathaway is a monster.
With no context, you would think I'm just chuggin' along on that Hathaway hate train (which I still think is silly). But don't worry, context you shall have. See: Anne Hathaway is just one lone(ly) person, trying to sort out her life after a breakup; she moves back to her hometown where a meet up with a childhood friend (Jason Sudeikis) ends with her working at his bar and together they drink away and bury into their sorrow and resentments.
Also see: an entire city (Seoul, South Korea to be exact) terrorized by a giant monster that's a combo of Godzilla and the Cloverfield thing.
Somehow these two things will cross and you will understand my opening statement, which, at this point, is likely very obvious. Or is it merely a misdirect? Along the way you'll also find two people facing why they're so angry at the world and what they're going to do about it.
But for real, Hathaway is a total witch.
Give It a Shot If: you want a twist on the my life is woeful, what do I do with my frustration about how my life was supposed to go, story
Details: 81% on RT (259 reviews)
R, 1 hrs 50 mins, NEON
UNDER THE SKIN
(2014)
The tagline for this movie is deceptively simple: "Disguising herself as a human female, an extraterrestrial (Scarlett Johansson) drives around Scotland and tries to lure unsuspecting men into her van."
I'm not sure I can really expand. Not because that's all there is, but because ultimately it's a basic premise that belies a movie trying to convey the process of discovering what it is to be human. I mean, how the hell do you explain that!? I mean sure, we've created words, but how often do those fail you in describing how you feel as a person? So this movie works to show it, through a creature which is not human, trying to be human.
Maybe some of you out there can relate.
Great directors Sofia Coppola and Denis Villeneuve apparently can.
Give It a Shot If: you're feelin' existential
Details: 85% on RT (249 reviews)
R, 1 hr 48 mins, A24
MELANCHOLIA
(2011)
So the whole "joke" where a year is some sort of sentient being which causes all of our collective strife is a sort of comforting (if overused) emotional displacement. Because rather than succumbing to the fact the world is jumbled chaos, featuring both beautiful and terrible events, it's almost nice to think there's an architect - even if it's merely notional.
But who do you blame when an entire planet is discovered to be on course to crash into earth and end the only life we know to exist in the universe?* And does blaming even matter at that point? Does anything matter?? Maybe in the described circumstances, giving in to that latter question is not only the understandable course of action, but the rational one.
These are the topics and questions that'll be covered in Melancholia, which follows Kirsten Dunst as she marries Alexander Skarsgard in grand fashion, even though it will likely lead her down a deeper path of depression. But once the end of everything becomes known, things get a little twisted. Because when total physical obliteration is imminent, matching your emotional state, you probably become more free to revel in the beckoning nihilism.
It sounds dark, and it is, depression is no light matter after all, but even one positive could be that when you watch, you'll realize that while it's been pretty rough at times this year, at least it hasn't been Melancholia level bad?
Then again, 2020 ain't over yet...
Give It a Shot If: you're feeling up to consider the weight of the death of the world - oh, and your death too.
*Mickey Mouse. Clearly.
Details: 79% on RT (204 reviews)
R, 2 hrs 15 mins, Zentropa
Highlights
Borat Subsequent Movie Film - he back. And he brought his daughter.
Bad Hair - horror satire on culture / cultural expectations where a woman's weave is killer. Literally. Note: on Hulu.
The Witches - Robert Zemeckis redo of the Roald Dahl tale, with Anne Hathaway as lead witch. Note: was originally a theatrical released, but got shifted to HBO Max due to "the bullshit." Chris Rock narrates.
Spell - sort of a voodoo take on Misery.
Free Guy - Ryan Reynolds is a bland NPC (non-player character) in a video game named... Guy, who has to save the fake world that’s very real to him. Jodie Comer too (Killing Eve).
Jingle Jangle - a Xmas musical with a bunch of names like Forest Whitaker, Keegan-Michael Key and Phylicia Rashad. Note: a Netflix flick
Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* What's In Theaters, All rights reserved.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
*|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*