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This week, there are SEVEN new films out for you to choose from, led by Bombshell. Here are the titles, with more info below:Bombshell
A Hidden Life
Weathering with You (Tenki no ko)
Plus One
Waves
Just Mercy
Bad Boys For Life
Bombshell centres around a number of women who decide to take on Fox News boss Roger Ailes (John Lithgow – Raising Cain), along with the toxic male culture he presided over at the network.
I like the look of Bombshell, although note we are getting it a little late as it came out on December 20th in the US.
Director: Jay Roach
Writer: Charles Randolph
Also stars: Margot Robbie, Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Alice Eve, Alanna Ubach, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Allison Janney
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
A Hidden Life is the latest movie from Terrence Mallick, and you can be sure that whatever it is that he makes, he’s making it for himself and no-one else.
The film runs for almost three hours, but based on this short trailer, I do like the look of it.
Writer: Director: Terrence Malick
Stars: August Diehl, Valerie Pachner, Maria Simon
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Weathering with You (Tenki no ko)
A high-school boy who has run away to Tokyo befriends a girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather.
I’m not a big anime fan, but I did enjoy 2017’s Your Name, so it could be worth a look.
Writer/Director: Makoto Shinkai
Stars: Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Sei Hiraizumi
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Maybe!
Plus One looks to be a typical mismatch comedy where longtime single friends, East Asian Alice (Maya Erskine) and white slacker Ben (Jack Quaid) attempt to survive a summer of wedding fever by agreeing to be each other’s plus one at every wedding to which they’ve been invited.
It looks like it’s been stuck in the Jan/Feb crap slot for a reason, and for no apparent reason, it needs two directors. They’re also responsible for writing it.
Writer/Directors: Jeff Chan, Andrew Rhymer
Stars: Maya Erskine, Jack Quaid, Ed Begley Jr
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Waves centers around the journey of a suburban family – led by a well-intentioned but domineering father – as they navigate love, forgiveness, and coming together in the aftermath of a loss.
I couldn’t get a handle on this from the trailer, so I’ll pass.
Writer/Director: Trey Edward Shults
Stars: Taylor Russell, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Alexa Demie
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Just Mercy tells a powerful and thought-provoking true story, following young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B Jordan – Creed) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson – Free Fire).
One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx – Baby Driver), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.
So, this has a good cast, but while watching the trailer, it could be in the scripting but it all felt like it’s going to turn into a sickly-sweet movie with an ending you can spot a mile off.
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Adaptation: Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham
Novel: Bryan Stevenson
Also stars: Rafe Spall, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Tim Blake Nelson
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Bad Boys For Life is the threequel no-one asked for, and while Will Smith (Gemini Man) has barely aged in this time, Martin Lawrence looks more like Big Momma.
The synopsis states that Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) is now a police inspector, while Mike Lowery (Smith) is in a midlife crisis. They unite again when an Albanian mercenary, whose brother they killed, promises them an important bonus.
Well, I got bored watching the first Bad Boys movie, and skipped the sequel. And, for some reason, Bad Boys 4 is in pre-production!
Oh well, if you haven’t been warned off this junk already…
Bad Boys For Life looks like it’s going to suck big-time and flop, because it was pulled from Sony’s 2018 line-up, and it’s shoved into the crap Jan/Feb slot for terrible non-Oscar movies. Can you guess if I’m going to watch it?
Directors: Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Screenplay: Chris Bremner, Joe Carnahan, David Guggenheim, Anthony Tambakis
Also stars: Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Joe Pantoliano, Happy Anderson, Charles Melton
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.