There are some weeks where I know which movies to see, and some where I fail miserably. This past weekend, my annoyance with the trailers for Ricki and the Flash and The Gift left me dismissive of these movies. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Both movies surprised in quality and people are excited to see them! Go figure!
This weekend has some big hype and some intriguing limited releases. Check out the list of new movies this weekend and let us know what you are excited to see.
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Opening In Wide Release
Straight Outta Compton
Initial hype has me super excited to see this movie. Maybe it has something to do with drumming up the music of my formative years and pretending to have a hard life in middle class, suburban 1990’s America. Or it could just be the music of NWA, Dre, and Ice Cube. Either way, I was still a nerdy white kid listening to men who lived much harder lives than me rapping about their experiences growing up on the mean streets of Compton.
Casting a group of relatively unknown actors to play the parts of Easy-E (Jason Mitchell), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), and Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), director F. Gary Gray (Italian Job, The Negotiator) tackles the story of NWA’s rise to fame and their redefining of pop culture and hip hop. The hope is that this movie goes deep into racism, inequality, and musical expression, something this year’s Dope only grasped at in its final third.
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The Man from U.N.C.L.E
Starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, and Alicia Vikander looks like it could be his return to a better movie not called Sherlock Holmes. It is sure to have the Guy Ritchie signature style; fast editing, slow motion, and crazy cameras, but looks to be less of his milieu of the crime underworld. Of course, Cold War spy action movie is only a couple doors down from a criminal underworld.
Guy Ritchie used to be on top of the movie making world. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch were super cool heist movies that were highly stylized and very English. He was flying so high he even married Madonna in 2000. Since then, his offerings have not been that great and we’ve all waited for him to return to previous form. Let’s hope his latest movie can recapture some of the previous magic of his most popular films.
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Opening In Limited Release
Mistress America
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach have teamed up again to take Baumbach’s Brooklyn, hipster sensibilities and Gerwig’s lanky, half-step down comedy; 2012’s Frances Ha being their first, and most successful, foray together.
This time, Gerwig plays the ever adventurous, always interesting, and completely messed up Brooke. She connects with her soon to be stepsister Tracy, played by Lola Kirke, and introduces her to the fabulous and fun lifestyle of New York. As time passes, Tracy loves time with Brooke, but begins to realize Brooke is not the put together Brooklyn socialite she appears to be. That synopsis should be more than enough to nail this down as a Baumbach movie, and like his other movie from this year, While We’re Young, the director returns to the clash of urban cool and simpler and more traditional protagonists. Should prove to be very interesting and well worth your time this weekend if it opens near you.
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People Places Things
Speaking of second movies this year, Jermaine Clement is back again with a totally different movie than his first. I absolutely loved What We Do In The Shadows, which captured all of the things that make Clement a great comedian. It’s one of my favorite movies of the year, so far, and is just begging for us to make some time for it in a podcast. We’ll see about that one.
His second movie of this year couldn’t be more of an opposite. He takes a dramatic turn, with a heaping helping of comedy, to play a recently single dad raising twin daughters after his wife leaves him for another man. It looks to be a fairly straight forward comedy, but Clement’s humor takes over in the trailer at times and also we see a different side of him as an affectionate and loving father. His quips, antics, and descriptions make me want to see this because he seems to be describing how I am as a dad. Can’t wait to check this out on iTunes this weekend!
