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| Everyone, I mean everyone is eagerly awaiting my top 25 |
25. Get Hard
Starring: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Alison Brie
Director: Etan Cohen
Writers: Etan Cohen, Jay Martel, Ian Roberts
Release Date: March 27
Let's talk about Will Ferrell. Either you're down with his schtick, or you just don't understand why people find this man funny. I personally have liked him a lot and I really haven't got tired of his buffoonery in movies. Although I will admit I haven't really enjoyed any of films lately. I think the last movie I really LOL'd at was The Other Guys in 2010. He made a smaller movie that year called Everything Must Go and it was great - he just played a regular guy and I wish he would take more dramatic roles like that because he can act. Okay, I'm getting off track - Will Ferrell is back with his regular schtick and if you can't deal with that then this movie should be avoided. Ferrell plays a rich guy who get's nailed for fraud and gets sent to the big house where he asks Kevin Hart's character to help him prep for his prison time. Kevin Hart is funny as I've explained before - so I think together they should make a good comedy team. Etan Cohen, a writer known for Tropic Thunder, Idiocracy and Men in Black 3, is directing for the first time. So the cast and crew is solid and this should be a fun R-rated comedy come March.
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: Drew Goddard
Release Date: November 25
Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, The Martian tells the story of astronaut Mark Watney, who gets stranded on Mars after the crew has to evacuate their landing site. The survival story has been described as a mix between Apollo 13 and Cast Away (except without America's Sweetheart, Tom Hanks). I have yet to read the novel, but there's been nothing but praise for this debut novel from Andy Weir. If there's something we all need, it's more films like Gravity and I have a feeling it will feel a little like that. Ridley Scott, the man behind Alien and Blade Runner, is at the helm and I don't think you could have picked a better director. Plus the cast is solid - Matt Damon is a great actor and will bring his A-game as the main character. I'm stoked to see how this plays out and hopefully this will break the curse of bad movies with Mars or Martian in the title - Mission to Mars, Ghosts of Mars, Martian Child, My Favorite Martian (excluding Veronica Mars, of course!).
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Adam Driver, Kirsten Dunst
Director: Jeff Nichols
Writer: Jeff Nichols
Release Date: November 25
Another science fiction movie being release the same weekend, Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special is about a father and son who go on the run after he learns that his son has supernatural abilities. Nichols wrote and directed the drama Mud starring Matthew McConaughey - which was surprisingly good! Nichols describes this film as a "sci-fi chase film" and references Starman as an influence. The plot details are pretty vague so I really don't know the exact nature of these supernatural abilities, but I'm pumped to see what Nichols can do. And the cast - Edgerton is such a good actor and he's been slowly building a fantastic resume (Animal Kingdom, Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby, Exodus: Gods and Kings) and Adam Driver has been the go-to young actor these days (he'll show up in next year's Star Wars and is a continual scene-stealer in HBO's Girls). While not much to go on, I'm certain that this will be an excellent film and I await a trailer to get me more excited.
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Robert Zemeckis, Christopher Browne
Release Date: October 2
Before I begin the details of this film, I highly suggest everyone watch Man on Wire, the documentary that this film is based on - it's available on Netflix and is a brief 94 minutes of your time. It's such a good story and the film plays out like a high-stakes (and high-wire!) thriller. That being said, The Walk (can you possibly get a title any duller than this? I hope they change it) is about high-wire artist Philippe Petit's attempt to walk between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in 1974. I'm excited to see JGL bring it - he's perfectly cast for this role and I wouldn't be surprised if it earns him an Oscar. I feel like Robert Zemeckis (Flight, Cast Away, Back to the Future) is an odd choice for this film, but he really hasn't made a terrible movie and this might nab him his first Oscar nomination in 20 years! You'll see me lined up for The Walk on day one - I can't wait to see how this true story plays out on the big screen!
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Jai Courtney
Director: Alan Taylor
Writers: Laeta Kalogridis, Patrick Lussier
Release Date: July 1
Oh boy. Talk about a mess. After being thrown into purgatory after the so-so (some would say horrendous) Terminator Salvation, the Terminator franchise got bought for the second time after the initial buyer, and producer of Salvation, The Halcyon Company, filed for bankruptcy. Eventually the rights went to Megan Ellison's Annapurna pictures with her brother's company Skydance, producing. They got Schwarzenegger back on board and a whole slew of fresh new faces (Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones, Jason Clarke from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jai Courtney from A Good Day to Die Hard and Matt Smith from Dr. Who). The biggest problem is this franchise has been trying to get away from the first two films with little success. So instead of trying to tell a new story, the writers have gone with the whole "alternate universe" storyline - so it's a retelling of the first movie without exactly writing off that movie like it never happened. This time Schwarzenegger is playing babysitter for Sarah Connor and he's got to defend her from more liquid-metal T-2000s. Meanwhile, the future sees John Connor trying to win the war against Skynet. If you're head isn't spinning after seeing the trailer, then you're not alone. I don't know how I feel about this movie - I just don't know! There's too many things going against it - the messy plot, too many characters and re-telling an old story. But there's also some positives - the cast (aside from Jai Courtney!) looks fantastic, Alan Taylor is directing (of previous Thor: The Dark World fame) and they are rebooting the series with a new take on the story, so that's worth something, right? Well, I'm curious enough to see how this possible trainwreck might turn out. I'm apprehensive to say the least, but I'll be there opening weekend.
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