What's In Theaters +: Let's get weird. 😛
"No. If anybody orders Merlot, I'm leaving.
I am not drinking any fucking Merlot!"
PINNED: this newsletter started as a way to highlight movies coming to theaters (see: the name). Then, "the bullshit" happened. And I started featuring movies in theaters, VOD or streaming (see: the +). Point is, if there's a movie worth checking out, you'll probably find it here.
My friends. We're nearing the end of summer. But it's still hot AF out. Why don't you do your sweaty underwear a favor and go see yourself some movies for... *checks notes* three bucks?! Yeah, you can thank "National Cinema Day" for that price. A totally real thing and not something theater owners just made up like two minutes ago. Hell, see yourself a few. It's only three bucks! Sure there may not be any new big releases, but NOPE, Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis, Bodies 3x and Brad Pitt's peak fuck-it-phase actioner Bullet Train are all still in (most) theaters. Plus, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Jaws are getting re-releases (the former playing in more theaters than the latter). You got options.
So have at it. Enjoy the AC. But before you do, make sure and watch some trailers below, cuz I have some weird ones for ya.
Extra Credit Movies:
Saloum - a Senegalese horror thriller that's getting a ton of love from critics. Reviews are sitting at 100% on RT actually. Playing in LIMITED THEATERS this Friday and STREAMING next Friday.
HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL.
Religion is complicated. It's so important to so many people, but also the basis for so much strife in the world - historically and today. You wouldn't be out of line if you described it as a fraud topic. Ahem, sorry, I meant religion is a frau-d topic. Wow. Some real mistyping going on here, lemme try again with all caps. RELIGION IS A FRAUD TOPIC. Right. That's better.
Now, I'm not saying religion is a fraud (I'll leave that question up to you). But there is plenty of fraud within the extolling of religious notions and ideals. Which is what director Adamma Ebo has her two stars, Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown, explore in Honk for Jesus. Brown is the pastor of a southern mega-church and Hall is "the pastor's wife" - I use the quotes for all that they imply. And they, in part, imply sticking by your man even after his sex-scandal makes your congregation skitter away faster than an influencer caught on video without their ring light. But the big ol' g oh d giveth and taketh, right? And this omnipotent figure is purportedly also into people who help themselves. Soooooo Brown and Hall begin their congregational restoration by deciding to star in a documentary (which makes this whole thing a "mockumentary" a la The Office) in hopes of ginning up some god press. Some good news coverage as well.
You can bet it won't go exactly as planned, or even close to it. And if I did my quotes correctly up above, you'll not be surprised to learn most of the stress will land on the expensively shrouded shoulders of the apple eating contingent of this married couple.
As for how it all works out for us the viewers? Quite a bit better. The movie has gotten a fair amount of love, even if it hasn't been unconditional. The bulk of the warm feelings are towards Hall and Brown in how they turn what could easily be caricatures into actual characters, Hall especially. Critics also note how the movie can be a bit broad in its critiques, and peters out a bit at the end, but also doesn't simply take a bunch of easy shots, instead exploring the reality behind the gold flossed facade. Which makes it ultimately not a critique of religion, but of those fallible humans preaching it.
Vibe: fraught with satire
Out Friday
Watch In Theaters & Peacock
The Trailer | 1 hr 42 mins | R | 🍅: 80%
(called out from top, left to right)
We're back to theme week here at Trailers! And this week's theme is... Shit's Weird Dude. Basically a bunch of weird trailers that are weird for different reasons. Let me explain.
Our first highlight is Tár, starring Cate Blanchett as a (not actually real) famous composer / conductor, which looks pretty fucking weird, but like good weird. Like it's gonna be a possible best picture contender weird. I like that kinda weird.
White Noise is maybe the most traditionally weird movie we have here. Because it's weird in all the intentional and obvious ways. In large part because it's directed by Noah Baumbach, who is adapting the popular 80's book of the same name that explores the ramifications of "an airborne toxic event" (no, it's not your roommates toots, something worse. is that even possible you wonder quizzically?). Because of course Baumbach would make a weird movie like this. And of course he'd cast his favorites in (wife) Greta Gerwig and Adam Driver. Shit still looks weird though.
WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story literally has our word of the week in its title. So yeah, it is functionally, literally, unequivocally weird. But it's also weird because it's a biopic that is intentionally and openly inaccurate, unlike most biopics which are just wrong because the filmmakers were like "sure this never happened, but I took the essence of the character so I'm ultimately being truthful - plus, story!!" So yeah, WEIRD looks weird.
As for the Jon Hamm led, and reboot of the Chevy Chase 80's hits, Confess, Fletch, it's weird for like a lot of reasons. But mainly because when you watch the trailer, it ends and you're just sitting with a perplexed look on your face muttering, "weird. that was just... weird." And you're doing that because either the trailer or the whole movie itself (likely the latter) can't pick a damn tone. It's like a non-comedic comedy. It's odd. And weird.
Nanny is weird in the "elevated horror" sense where everything seems normal until it isn't. Is something really happening, or is the woman at the center of our trailer just having a mental breakdown due to work stress and distance from her son who's still living in her native Senegal. Dunno, but either way, weird shit keeps happening. So yeah, ✅ weird.
Saving maybe the "best" for last. It's...
...Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey. It is exactly what it sounds like, a horror movie (thanks to the recent lapse in rights) where our beloved but somewhat dimwitted bear and his best friend exact revenge on Christopher Robin for abandoning them. Shit's weird dude.
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