Fizz’s prediction of it being a banner year in movies looks to be shaping up just as he predicted. There has been a really strong start to the Fall movie season. We haven’t even set the clocks back and there is already strong Oscar buzz, online tickets sales breaking the internet, and great movies from great directors. Make sure to fill up that bank account, set back out to the theater this weekend for a brand new slate of movies, and let us know what you are excited to see!
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Opening in Wide Release
Steve Jobs
This movie finally opens in a wider release this weekend. It was one of the movies Fizz was most looking forward to this fall, so we’ll let him have the last word on it:
Whoever is in charge of cutting trailers for Steve Jobs should get a raise. This film looks like it could be incredible. Where other films about Jobs may have taken some of the edge off, this version, scripted by the incredible Aaron Sorkin, looks to pull zero punches. This probably goes without saying, but Michael Fassbender is worlds above Ashton Kutcher in the acting department as well. I am eagerly awaiting the twists and turns in this film along with seeing Seth Rogan take a more dramatic turn (a la Jonah Hill).
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Jem and the Holograms
Based on the 80’s cartoon show, and put out by Hasbro studios, the most successful of the toy companies with movie studio divisions, this movie is aimed squarely at teens and the YouTube generation. Jerrica is an unassuming teen with amazing musical talents, but she does not want to share them. She records a video of one of her songs, who she shares with a select few, but has no ambitions for anything more. Then one of her friends uploads it to YouTube and it is a viral hit! She is propelled to stardom along with her friends and they form the pop group, Jem and the Holograms.
Besides the trailer giving away about two-thirds of the movie, this does not look to be up our alley, at all. While it might bring back some nostalgia, the initial buzz is that this is a pretty terrible attempt to cash in on an old IP, and that it plays more like a direct to DVD movie or a Disney XD special than an actual feature-length, wide release movie. It remains to be seen, but initial outlook says stay away from this one.
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The Last Witch Hunter
Starring Vin Diesel, Elijah Wood, Michael Caine, and Rose Leslie, this movie seems to have come out of nowhere and boasts an extremely unique story origin. Writer cory Goodman based the plot, premise, and characters on personal interviews he did with Vin Diesel where Diesel described his Dungeons & Dragons character to Goodman. An incredibly fascinating beginning that makes it an interestingly personal movie for Diesel. While those origins sound intriguing enough, the initial reviews coming back are resoundingly down on the movie. The trailer, the reviews, and my own personal feelings from the synopsis and trailer are that the movie is weighed down by the origins and less focused on a story. It makes sense given that the movie is based on a D&D character, which usually is creatively imagined by a player but often long-winded, and there is really not anything compelling me to see this movie. I might be proven wrong, but I am extremely skeptical this movie can be any good.
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Rock the Kasbah
What is the deal with Bill Murray as of late? First, he played a supporting role in the very awful movie Aloha. Now, he is playing a lead role in a movie that didn’t look very good and is getting awful reviews. I get all the Bill Murray and you certainly cannot deny his appeal, but it stinks that these two movies are what we get from Murray this year.
The movie is about Murray as a past his prime band manager who goes to Kabul, Afghanistan for a musical tour like the USO. While there he discovers a teenage girl with an incredible voice and begins to manage her and train her to compete in the “Afghan Star” competition. The movie has quite the supporting cast of Zooey Deschanel, Bruce Willis, and Kate Hudson. I could be wrong on this movie and it turns out to be real great, but the trailer wasn’t all that funny and the early critical reception has been downright hostile about the talent being wasted in the movie.
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Opening In Limited Release
Suffragette
Now this looks to be something incredibly interesting! Starring Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson, the movie focuses on the suffrage movement in England in 1912. A story that has not been told on screen, the cast is quite impressive and the story looks to both be gripping, unique, and even though it is a period piece, timely. Seek this one out if it is in your area, it could potentially be really, really good.