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This weekend there are eight new films out for you to choose from: TV-turned-movie comedy in Bad Education, aka The Bad Education Movie, more comedy in Vacation, horror in Sinister 2, CGI for kids in Strange Magic, political drama in Escobar: Paradise Lost, tedium in Pressure and Gemma Bovery, and a long-delayed thriller in Good People.
Bad Education is Jack Whitehall‘s sitcom from BBC3 which I hugely enjoyed, but which came to an end after three series (presumably set over three terms of the same year) as he said goodbye to his form, all mournful-like, even though most of them would still be attending the same school the following year, just another class up.
Anyhoo, that still doesn’t stop a potential movie spin-off, as they all head abroad for a summer holiday, a la The Inbetweeners, and given how much money that made, why not try to emulate it, especially since BBC3 is on its way out?
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Vacation (wot no proper title this time?) sees Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms – The Hangover I, II & III) taking his own family on a road trip to “Walley World” in order to spice things up with his wife and reconnect with his sons.
Also starring Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann, Elizabeth Gillies, Beverly D’Angelo, Skyler Gisondo, Nick Kroll, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key and Chris Hemsworth, the original films were classics and this looks great from the trailer but to go the full distance, it has a lot to live up to.
The trailer also shows Chevy Chase very briefly. I hope he’s in the film a lot more than that, although it’s usually a good indicator that he won’t be.
Pointless trivia: The Vacation Franchise began in 1983 and had a sequel (2 years later) another sequel (4 years later) and another sequel (8 years later) and development for the current sequel started in 2013 (16 years later).
Vacation was originally due for release in the UK on November 13th, but it’s now out this Friday! However, it also has two directors (John Francis Daley and Jonathan M Goldstein) which is never a good sign.
On balance, however…
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Sinister 2 follows on from the 2012 original, this time with a young mother and her twin sons moving into a rural house that’s marked for death.
There’s a fair few grizzly-looking events in this horror sequel trailer, but nothing scary whatsoever, and it’s a good example of when a bad Hollywood has run out of ideas. The first Sinister looked so tedious that I didn’t bother with it, but originality was never Hollywood’s strong point.
This sequel stars Shannyn Sossamon as Courtney, a young mother who, with her twin sons, move into a rural house that’s marked for death… yes, death. WTF?!
Oh, and Shannyn Sossamon. You remember her, right? No? Well, that’s understandable, as her last big film was also her first – A Knight’s Tale, co-starring the late Heath Ledger, all the way back in 2001.
Sinister 2 also stars James Ransone, Nicholas King, Tate Ellington, Delphine Pontvieux and Lucas Jade Zumann. Writers Scott Derrickson and C Robert Cargill return, but instead of the former directing again, Ciaran Foy (Citadel) takes the mantle.
I haven’t seen the first one it looked terrible and scare-free, and based on this trailer, that will not change for the sequel.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Strange Magic is yet another CGI kids film, this time with Goblins, elves, fairies and imps, and their misadventures sparked by the battle over a powerful potion. Inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, popular songs from the past six decades help tell the tale of a this coluorful cast.
Sounds thrilling, doesn’t it? But it features a cast including Alan Cumming, Evan Rachel Wood, Kristin Chenoweth, Alfred Molina and Peter Stormare – who’s in everything.
It’s also a creation of George Lucas… he who brought us Star Wars… but he also brought us Jar Jar Binks!
It’s also worth noting that this film was released in the US a whole seven months ago, so can already be imported on Blu-ray and DVD.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Escobar: Paradise Lost is set in Colombia, where young surfer Nick (Josh Hutcherson – The Hunger Games series) meets the woman of his dreams – and then he meets her uncle, Pablo Escobar (Benicio Del Toro).
Also starring Brady Corbet and Claudia Traisac, this didn’t grab me at all, despite Del Toro’s presence.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Pressure is centered around a group of men who are trapped in a small pod on the sea bed, after diving down to fix an oil pipeline and becoming separated from their ship. So, basically, this is a British rip-off of the so-so Pioneer, from 2013, starring Headhunters‘ Askel Hennie.
This version features Danny Huston, Matthew Goode, Joe Cole, Joey King, Caleb Landry Jones and model Daisy Lowe – obviously trying to get in on the movie act a la Cara Delevingne.
The trailer isn’t at all interesting, so this film is a…
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Gemma Bovery
Martin (Fabrice Luchini), an ex-Parisian well-heeled hipster, passionate about Gustave Flaubert who settled into a Norman village as a baker, sees an English couple moving into a small farm nearby. Not only are the names of the new arrivals Gemma and Charles Bovery (Gemma Arterton and Jason Flemyng), but their behavior also seems to be inspired by Flaubert’s heroes.
Also starring Isabelle Candelier, Niels Schneider, Mel Raido, Elsa Zylberstein and The Saboteurs‘ Pip Torrens, I don’t go a whole bundle on romantic dramas.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Good People stars James Franco and Kate Hudson as Tom and Anna, a young couple who discover a load of cash stashed away in their dead tenant’s apartment. Since these two are hideously in debt, they take the money and find themselves the target of a deadly adversary-the thief who stole it…
Also starring Odyssey‘s Anna Friel, plus Omar Sy and Tom Wilkinson with a dodgy American accent, what starts off as looking interesting soon ends up looking rather cliched indeed and you know how this one’s going to pan out.
Good People was first announced in May 2014, and eventually had a limited US release in September that year, but has taken 15 months in total to see the light of day in the UK since the trailer was first released. That is NOT a good sign.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.