It’s mercifully the last week of February and that means the movie doldrums are finally going to pass! This week’s movies hold some minor intrigue and the limited releases look very interesting, as can be the case during these months. Here we go with this week’s new movies coming to a theater near you (probably).
Opening in Wide Release
Focus
Starring Will Smith as a veteran con man who meets a femme fatale from his past (Margot Robbie), it is a story of scheming and deception as well as Will Smith without a shirt on. At least, that is as far as I got in the trailer. I’ve seen a couple different trailers in the theaters and I am not all too interested, but early reviews are somewhat strong from critics, which is a good sign. I want to see Will Smith in some better roles and I am hoping this can be a bit of a recovery after the disaster of After Earth.
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The Lazarus Effect
Talk about some serious creep-a-saurus rex going on in this movie. You should have heard all the people over 60 in the theater when I saw this preview a couple weeks ago. It was some serious monocle dropping in drink moment. In all seriousness, there is something to be said for a movie that flashes John 11 on the screen (the story of Lazarus being risen from the dead by Jesus), but I can’t imagine it hold much more function that an arbitrary Biblical reference to the title of the movie. While the premise looks somewhat interesting, not like it is NEW to the horror genre, and it stars Mark Duplass (The One I Love, The Mindy Project, Safety Not Guaranteed), I’m not all that intrigued. Check it out if you are a horror buff and let us know what you think.
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opening in limited release
Everly
This movie has actually been out on VOD and on iTunes for a month or so, but is finally opening in some theaters, but only on a limited basis. I had heard from a couple people it was a pretty rad action movie, and anything starring Selma Hayek is bound to be a tad crazy. Everly (Selma Hayek) is holed up in her apartment fighting off assassins of her ex, a mob boss, and she must fight for her own survival. Seems to soundly fit the bill as kinda crazy and action-packed, but it might not really be your cup of acidic liquid (mild reference to the movie).
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Maps To The Stars
There are a lot of critics and early movie viewers talking about this movie. Julianne Moore was even nominated for a best Supporting Actress Golden Globe for her performance in it. If you are going to see it, I would go see it for the great female stars, the previously mentioned Julianne Moore (recent Oscar winner) and Mia Wasikowska (Tracks, The Double, Jane Eyre, The Kids Are All Right). Both are phenomenally talented and always bring a really good charm and gravitas to their roles. This movie centers around the Hollywood Weiss family and their relentless pursuit of stardom as their ghosts of the past continue to pursue them, as well. This one is not in wide release but is definitely worth seeing if it is playing in your area.
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’71
If this were playing in my city, which it is not, I would be going to see this. Jack O’Connell had some absolutely stunning performances in 2014 (Starred Up, Unbroken) and has really been moving up my list of actors I want to see all the time. The movie itself is a story centered around the Belfast conflicts between Protestants in Catholics in, you guessed it, 1971. British troops are sent in to maintain the shaky situation and Gary Hook (Jack O’Connell) is lost in the confusion after a riot breaks out. He must survive the night in hostile territory and find a way back to the barracks and stay alive. Sounds pretty stinking awesome! For the love go see this if it comes out and report back here!
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Let us know if we missed anything heading into this weekend and happy weekend movie watching everybody!
