Monthly Movie Preview: November 2015

October had some hits, but November is the biggest month of the year for hit movies. While Bond will likely take the top spot, there are about a half-dozen other films I’d spend my money on.

November 6 – Kill Your Friends

Starring: Nicholaus Hault, Craig Roberts, Rosanna Arquette, Tom Riley, James Corden

While the premise of this movie doesn’t really push any hot buttons for me – a movie starring a grown man version of Nicholas Hault does. You loved him as Beast in Days of Future Past, and Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road (collective orgasm noise from the audience), but this version of Hault is just as weird. Based off a 2008 John Niven novel, Kill Your Friends explores the ridiculousness of the music industry, and what it takes to stay alive. It could be interesting, but it reaches for a similar demographic that Spectre draws in; are you really going to miss out on Bond to see this? I didn’t think so. – Sherif

November 6 – Spectre

Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris

It’s pretty rare when a James Bond movie strings a plot throughout more than one movie, but that is exactly what Spectre is doing. Tying in the story line of all of Daniel Craig’s Bond movies, Spectre pits Bond against the organization SPECTRE, last seen in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. Other than how the story has been plotted out, I’m most excited for another Bond movie. The explosions, the cars, the gadgets… it’s just damn cool. And I have wanted to hate Christoph Waltz again for a while now. His performance in Inglorious Basterds was the epitome of evil and seeing him in films as a good guy, while great, is just not the same. – Adrian

November 6 – The Peanuts Movie

Starring: Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez (archival recordings), Hadley Belle Miller

Did somebody order a feel-good movie?? One that closes the gap between several generations? Charlie Brown and Co. have always been relevant, but the only thing parents have to show their kids are the old Holiday-themed ones from yesteryear. I’m a bit leery of this remake. There’s a decent chance that it will be too corny to incite nostalgia from adults, and too dated for kids to be relevant, but it’s guaranteed to be worth some laughs. The key might be to not walk into the theater expecting something revolutionary, but rather making you remember the simplicity of what made you laugh ages ago. Although, I’m still not on board with a DJ Khaled song making the trailer. – Sherif

November 6 – Trumbo

Starring: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Helen Mirren

You say Bryan Cranston, I say “how high?” The Heisenberg has been on a tear lately, portraying 50’s icons – first by playing Lyndon B. Johnson on Broadway, and now with his title role in Trumbo. Trumbo is based off the story of Dalton Trumbo, a famous Hollywood screenwriter and novelist in the late 1940’s during the Communist witch hunts of America’s post-war paranoia. Instead of adhering to the government’s wishes, he basically flipped them the bird and continued to write classic works like Spartacus and Exodus even though we was openly blacklisted. It’s not my top (or even top 3) choice for the weekend, but it looks like a solid informative biopic. – Sherif

November 6 – Spotlight

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, Liev Schreiber, Billy Crudup

Say your Hail Marys; Jesus can’t save the Catholic Church from Mark “F*cking” Ruffalo and the Boston Globe! Honestly, this is a story that needed to be told, and it’s full of headlining actors that push it from being a B-list lame documentary into a movie that people might actually give a crap about – and they should. Not even the infallible Pope Francis can stop this holy shitstorm from hitting theaters. – Sherif

November 13 – Entertainment

Starring: Tye Sheridan, Michael Cera, John C. Reilly, Lotte Verbeek

Let’s make a bold prediction. Entertainment will receive rave reviews. It’ll be considered genius and multi-layered and all the other fancy shit that Academy Award movies get called, but nobody will watch it. It won’t make sense to most of the world, and people will find it hilarious in a non-obvious, cathartic way. Basically like a Wes Anderson movie that takes itself too seriously. The movie’s focus is on small-time showbiz, but I think your focus should be on other movies. – Sherif

November 13 – By the Sea

Starring: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie

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Some may call it narcissistic, but just based off the preview By the Sea looks quite beautiful. Angelina Jolie Pitt’s project (she wrote and directed) stars herself and her hubs Brad Pitt. The film follows a couple who is trying to save their relationship by going on a vacation. It obviously doesn’t end well; however, it does look like a great character study on relationships, people with addictions, and the fine line between love and hate. The two lovers haven’t starred in a movie together since Mr. and Mrs. Smith; this will be a far cry from the comedy. So far the reviews aren’t great. I am still really interested because I find their love incredibly elusive. I just hope this doesn’t turn into Tom and Nicole’s Eyes Wide Shut. – Adrian

November 13 – Heist

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kate Bosworth, Morris Chestnut, Dave Bautista, Gina Carano

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For a moment there, I thought Robert de Niro was really going to accept that he’s an old man now. With movies like The Intern and the upcoming Dirty Grandpa, I thought he was aging gracefully into Morgan Freeman-like roles, but Heist looks like a bunch of cliché garbage that needed to come out solely to keep budgets up for next year. The cast is likable enough, although Morris Chestnut has been in just about one Tyler Perry movie too many to be considered muscle for the bad guy. Seriously, get out of my face, Heist. You’re embarrassing yourself. – Sherif

November 13 – The 33

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Lou Diamond Phillips

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If a group of sweaty coal miners is your thing, then boy are you going to love The 33. For those of you living under a rock – sorry, that was in poor taste – in 2010, a group of Chilean miners were trapped in a collapsed tunnel for over two months. Everybody got out alive. To be fair, it was a miracle. BUT, to be fair to me as a movie-goer, this does not seem like it would translate into a good movie at all. I’m glad they all survived, but screw going to watch a movie about how they did it. – Sherif

November 20 – Love the Coopers

Starring: John Goodman, Diane Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilder, Ed Helms, Anthony Mackie

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Holiday ensemble movies are a staple in Hollywood, and very rarely do they actually translate into anything timeless, let alone enjoyable. Here, though, I’m hopeful. Reason #1: John Goodman is at the top of my “Celebrities I Wish Were My Grandparent” list. Reason #2: There are funny people of all ages, not just the “main couple” of people to carry the comedy. Reason #3: Olivia Wilde is in it. I like Olivia Wilde. My wife has an unhealthy obsession with Olivia Wilde. The film doesn’t try to hide the dysfunctional family, but rather celebrate it. Love the Coopers might suck, but at least it will suck with good intentions. – Sherif

November 20 – The Night Before

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogan, Anthony Mackie, Lizzy Caplan, Jillian Bell, Michael Shannon, Mindy Kaling

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Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen JGL actually cut loose in a movie. He’s always actually acting – weird, huh? This movie smells a lot like a Christmas-themed This is the End, but simplifies the equation with actors that already mesh well together. Reuniting Seth Rogan with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50, the funniest cancer movie ever), and adding in the most harmless token black guy (sorry, Anthony Mackie), The Night Before looks to join the rare breed of original adult comedies in an era crowded by adaptations and franchises. – Sherif

November 20 – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Natalie Dormer

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I can’t believe the Hunger Games saga is finally at an end. Get ready for a lot of heartbreak, folks, because the end of the third book is full of it. Primarily focusing on the infiltration of District 13 into the Capitol, there is no going back for Katniss and crew – no more safe points. It’ll be a welcome change of pace from the other movies, and a good way to send the franchise out with a bang. Weird to think that the first movie debuted only 3 years ago; it feels like it’s been forever. So many crappy book-to-movie adaptations have come out in that time. Well, get your handkerchiefs out and sit down with somebody you love to watch the sun set on one of the most epic movie franchises of the decade. – Sherif

November 20 – Secret in Their Eyes

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Dean Norris

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I’m sorry, but I burst into tears laughing when I think of any character Julia Roberts plays committing murder in cold blood. Now that Sandra Bullock has successfully stolen any role that Roberts would be typecast for, maybe it’s time to turn over a new leaf. Secret in Their Eyes follows a detective who quit the force when one of the victims she found turned out to be her own daughter. Then she tracks down the killer and is forced to deal with the morality of whether or not to murder him… Welcome to the most recycled plot point in a cop show ever. Pass. – Sherif

November 25 – Legend

Starring: Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Christopher Eccleston, Paul Bettany

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Tom Hardy plays twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray, who together ran an organized crime ring in London in the mid-1950s. The “based on real life events” thing comes into play and sort of spoils the ending here – both were arrested and served out life sentences in prison, but that doesn’t mean that a ton of crazy crap happen along the way. Hardy is one of the best character actors around (don’t believe me? Check out Bronson), and I’m sure he’ll do a splendid job playing the homicidal paranoid schizophrenic Ronnie. Crime, violence, and Tom Hardy. I’m in. – Sherif

November 25 – The Good Dinosaur

Starring: Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, Steve Zahn, Jeffrey Wright

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It’s an entertaining-looking movie based off a cliché concept: what if dinosaurs were still alive when there were humans? Any time I hear a new “dinosaurs + humans” concept, I start thinking about a reboot of We’re Back, the greatest human-dinosaur movie of all time. However, this is a Pixar movie, and we all know that Pixar movies are on a whole other level visually and in the feels department. It’s movies like this that will make dinosaurs cool again. It’s a buddy movie starring a young Apatosaurus and his pet human (THERE’S a twist). There’s a much larger cast, but it seems as though the movie revolves around these two. – Sherif

November 25 – Creed

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Slyvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris

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I’m not a Rocky fan by any stretch of the imagination. I make fun of the movies way more than I ever enjoyed them, and my wife has been haunted by Stallone’s guttural moan “Yo Adrian!” ever since she was a little kid. However, I am a huge Michael B. Jordan fan, and Apollo Creed was by far the best rival that Rocky faced in the ring, so a movie with Apollo’s son is interesting enough to get people out to the theaters. Hopefully it’s not full of the same lame nostalgia that Rocky V had. – Sherif

November 25 – Victor Frankenstein

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy, Charles Dance, Noah Emmerich

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Mary Shelley’s work continues to grasp people nearly 200 years later. In the latest rendition, the story is told from Victor Frankenstein’s assistant Igor’s viewpoint. Starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry freakin’ Potter!) and James McAvoy (Charles freakin’ Xavier!), the two decide to make a man of body parts. Their endeavors find them being investigated by detectives. Because it will be from Igor’s point of view, I don’t know how accurate the movie will be to Shelley’s masterpiece (Elizabeth doesn’t even seem to be in the movie, and she is an integral part to the book). It looks like this will be more about the poor humans, which if you’ve seen this meme, you should know isn’t the point. However, some of the dialogue seems to match with the original work, and the lighting and colors are spot on to what I have imagined when I have read the original 1818 work. Also, the Monster looks damn scary. – Adrian

Monthly Movie Preview: October 2015

Let’s be honest, September kinda sucked for movies. This month more than makes up for a lackluster late summer when the Oscar-worthy start rolling out.

October 2 – The Martian

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Sean Bean, Michael Peña, Jeff Daniels

Space movie?! Matt Damon?! Being stranded on Mars?! Mutiny against NASA?! EHRMERGEHRD!!!!! The Martian will satiate my need for an epic outer space movie this fall, and I could not be more excited. Based off the book by Andy Weir (originally self-published in 2011 and then re-released in 2014), The Martian follows Mechanical Engineer and Botanist Mark Watney who become stranded on Mars after his crew has to abandon their mission. The cast is stellar and the comedy makes it that much more endearing. Can you tell I’m excited? – Adrian

October 2 – A Christmas Horror Story

Starring: William Shatner, George Buza, Rob Archer

When I first saw A Christmas Horror Story on my list of assignments this month I was a little confused about what I was getting myself into. And then I saw it had William Shatner in it and I cursed Adrian and Sherif (our lovely editors) for giving me such a project, which assuredly could only be horrible. I have to admit, I was wrong. This movie doesn’t look horrible, it looks ABYSMAL. Shatner appears to just be some sort of DJ who kind of narrates the whole thing for some dumb reason, and the rest of the movie focuses on the battle between Santa Claus and Krampus, and some stupid families that get caught in the middle, again for some dumb reason. If you’re into Santa’s elves running around like rabid zombies you may be into this, but I will be avoiding it all costs. If you like the idea of a dark twist on Christmas I recommend you save your time and money and wait until Krampus comes out in December. – Keriann

October 2 – Freeheld

Starring: Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Steve Carrell, Michael Shannon, Luke Grimes

Based on a true story, Ellen Page and Julianne Moore star in a drama about two women determined to win equality from the New Jersey Police Department. When Laurel Hester is diagnosed with lung cancer all she wants is for her pension to go to her domestic partner Stacie Andree when she dies. Unfortunately, because they aren’t a married straight couple, their request is denied and a long journey for justice begins. This film looks amazing. I’m so incredibly excited to be seeing a lesbian narrative like this portrayed in the public eye. Of course, one seeing this film should first familiarize themselves with the original documentary on which it is based, but nonetheless I’m ecstatic about this being made. I actually started crying watching the trailer. I think they will do a phenomenal job, especially with Ellen Page playing Stacie. It’s about time a lesbian role goes to a lesbian actor. -Charlotte

October 2 – He Named Me Malala

Starring:Malala Yousafzi, Ziauddin Yousafzai

I’m sure we have all heard about Malala by now. If you haven’t get on that shit. Like right fucking now. I’m looking forward to this Documentary. I was it tears after the preview. I’m probably going to need a bucket for all the tears I’ll cry when I go see it. Malala is a truly inspiring young woman and you can feel how one life can really change the people around her. The film seems looks beautifully cut and a documentary that is more hopeful and inspiring than it is painful. – Jené

October 9 – Masterminds

Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis

Ah, finally, a good idiot comedy movie. Wells Fargo employees David (Zach G.) and Kelly (Wiig) plan to rob the bank they work for with a genius plan. Only problem, well… they’re morons. My favorite part is that it’s based off a real-life robbery in 1997, one which regarded the thieves as “masterminds.” The cast in this movie is amazing; I would go see a comedy starring any one of them, so with a zany plot and a bunch of good improv actors, this movie is sure to make bellies ache. Ironically enough, the production company, Relativity Studios, filed for bankruptcy and may end up pulling the film from its release date. Hope they don’t bank at Wells Fargo… – Sherif

October 9 – Pan

Starring:Hugh Jackman, Levi Miller, Jimmy Lee

I honestly have no idea what I think about the movie preview. I know that Hugh Jackman is excited to play a villain for once. Seeing Jackman as Blackbeard is intriguing to me and seeing Hook a “good guy” in this is an interesting twist. Cause we all know that’s not going to last. The cinematography looks absolutely stunning and seems worth seeing for that reason alone. I don’t know, the film could either be amazing or the absolute worst. Reserving judgement till I see it. – Jené

October 9 – Steve Jobs

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogan, Jeff Daniels

Remember that movie Jobs from two years ago?  You know.  The one with Ashton Kutcher.  I never saw it, but I know it exists.  Every time a see a preview for the new Steve Jobs movie that’s set to release this month all I can think about is Jobs.  That thought is followed immediately by anger and frustration at the ever growing lack of originality and creativity in Hollywood.  This is worse (or at least on the same level) than remaking Spider-Man or the Fantastic 4 every five years.  Yeah Fassbender is a great actor and I’m sure the production value on Steve Jobs is a lot greater than Kuther’s version.  I’m just growing a bit tired of the rinse-wash-repeat method for movies this day.  Sooo… If you never hear of Jobs, or if you could care less about Hollywood morphing into Jabba the Hutt, then Steve Jobs is probably a good choice for you this month.  Me?  I’ll pass.  RANT OVER! – Taylor

October 9 – Big Stone Gap

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Ashley Judd, Whoopi Goldberg,

Dubbed the town’s old maid, Ave Maria Mulligan (Ashley Judd) faces the complexities of aging, love, and grief in 1970’s Virginia. The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Adriana Trigiani. I’m not totally sure what to make of this film. While I like the complexity of it and how it seems to challenge the idea that a woman has to get married at a certain age, the trailer just doesn’t excite me. This might be one of those films that just has too many subplots to keep the audience invested. Stories like these seem to do better on the page than the screen. -Charlotte

October 9 – Trash

Starring: Rooney Mara, Martin Sheen

Take one part Stand By Me, one part The Goonies, two parts Slumdog Millionaire and a splash of the Bourn Identity, and out comes Trash. Not trash as in “garbage;” rather, trash as in the brilliant title of this movie. When three young children discover something in the garbage pile where you roam, they find themselves fighting to stay alive. When the easy choice is the same as the wrong choice, they make the bold and brave decision to be rebels and fight for good. HAZAH! With the law on their tails it is a race to stay hidden and keep moving towards what needs to be done for the greater good. Foreign children are so noble! – Evan

October 9 – The Walk

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, Ben Schwartz, James Badge Dale

I first saw Man on Wire in 2009 in a college writing class. And I fell in love. The delivery of story telling was jaw dropping. A story that, to some, may seem blasé was portrayed with such passion and intensity, I was instantly drawn in. My fear with The Walk, based off the documentary, is that it will be less about “The Story” and more about “THIS IS IN 3D!”. I have a strange love of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but I am pretty concerned with how much the preview relies on the 3D aspect. C’est la vie. – Adrian

October 9 – Knock Knock

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana de Armas, Ignacia Allamand

In my attempt to find the words to write to tell you awesome people what Knock Knock is all about, I’m succeeding only in sitting on my couch, blushing from head to toe and just feeling awkward.  Once you watch the trailer, you’ll understand why.  What I will impart upon you is that this film stars Keanu Reeves in a role very unlike his usual ones (if you’re thinking Jon Wick or The Matrix stop now, before you wreck yourself) and his magical journey of sexual entrapment at the hands of two slutty (and totally mentally unstable) young ladies.  I’ll probably go see it and never admit to it.  And for the love of God, PLEASE… don’t go watch this with your parents.  You’ve been warned. – Taylor

October 16 – Bridge of Spies

Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Austin Stonewall, Domenick Lombardozzi

It’s been a while since Forth of July.  Need a good dose of patriotism to mix in with your witches brew this month?  Fret not good citizen, for Bridge of Spies hits theaters this month.  A story about a POW exchange between the Soviets and the United States during the Cold War, Tom Hanks takes on the role of James Donovan (a small time lawyer) to negotiate the exchange.  The film looks it’ll be educational and entertaining, typically a tough combo to pull off.  At the very least, Hanks should make the visit to the theater worthwhile. – Taylor

October 16 – Goosebumps

Starring: Jack Black, Odeya Rush, Dylan Minnette, Ryan Lee, Amy Ryan

Part of me is so very very sad that this movie did not come out when I was a kid, huddled in my bed reading every R.L. Stine book I could get my hands on, with my three shelf long collection every Goosebumps book ever written. I used to dream of being able to see those stories on the big screen, but alas, the day would seemingly never come. The Goosebumps movie coming out now does seems a little random, considering the series’ massive wave of popularity has come and gone but I truly do not think that will have any impact on the box office numbers. Many of us who loved R.L. Stine’s books as kids now have children of our own that we can attempt to initiate into that exciting world of literature. The Goosebumps movie is clearly aimed at a younger audience and the kids and preteens of today will likely still love it because it will have lots of laughs, sufficient enough scares, and assuredly a heartfelt moment or two. The movie takes a unique look at traditional storytelling as R.L. Stine is a character in the film played by Jack Black, and the Goosebumps books are very real, and are in fact based on actual monsters and beasts created by Stein himself. I’m a little disappointed to see that the monsters in focus in the movie are the ones that I deemed too goofy as a kid, but I totally see why that works. Goosebumps will probably be one of the best family movies of the year, and I recommend it for kids of all ages. – Keriann

October 16 – Crimson Peak

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, Jim Beaver

Any scary movie that can spook the legendary Stephen King already deserves your attention. The premise is simple enough. Sir Thomas Sharpe (Hiddleston) marries a sweet young lady (Wasikowska), even against the behest of his sister (Chastain). She gets brought home, sees evil stuff, and then spends the rest of the movie trying to escape evil stuff. It’s visually stunning, but seems kinda cliché in terms of the “oh he’s good, wait he’s evil. Wait, this house is evil!” plot line. Maybe the trailer just said too much. I do know that if Guillermo del Toro is involved, you are guaranteed to be frightened by this film. What more do you really want? – Sherif

October 23 – Burnt

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Uma Thurman, Omar Sy, Daniel Brühl, Matthew Rhys

If you’re like me, then you love Gordon Ramsay and how ruthless he is in the kitchen.  This also probably means we’ll love Burnt, a film staring Bradly Cooper and his portrayal of a very Ramsay-esque chef aiming to make his restaurant the best in the world.  Unlike many of Ramsay’s TV productions, Burnt has a much more serious and dramatic tone to it.  I don’t imaging Cooper will be shouting at his chefs to f*** off every ten seconds or wedging them between two pieced of bread hence dubbing them “idiot sandwiches.”  For the foodies and Ramsay fans out there, Burnt is probably one that should be on your list this month. – Taylor

October 23 – Difret

Starring:Meron Getnet, Tizita Hagere, and Abel Abebe

A story based on a true story. It looks like October is the month of really strong women and girls. This movie looks like another tear jerker. The movie is about an Ethiopian girl who kills her abductor in self-defense and the women who layers who come to her defense. It’s a previews and bring tears to your eyes and also a fire in the belly. Fuck yeah these women are awesome. Again, I think I’m going to need that bucket in the theater. Or, maybe I’ll wait to see it so no one has to hear my jobbing. – Jené

October 23 – I Smile Back

Starring: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski

Did you know that Sarah Silverman can be a dramatic actor? I Smile Back, which debuted last year in the independent circuits, is about a married mother of two who is fighting mental instability. She seems happy enough on the outside, but deciding to go off her medication combining with several traumatic events are causing depression and rage to hit the surface. It’s a real movie about real life issues that looks genuine enough to be relatable, and crazy enough to be entertaining. What sets I Smile Back apart from other movies like it is that it sheds light on depression in women. You always see movies that follow the husband’s point of view, but what about what the wife feels? Probably won’t see this in theaters, but it’s worth a Netflix night. – Sherif

October 23 – Jem and the Holograms

Starring: Aubrey Peeples, Stefanie Scott, Hayley Kiyoko, Molly Ringwald

History Lesson: Did you know that Jem and the Holograms was the number one cartoon on air in 1986? Jem aka Jerrica Benton was a girl who could make holograms of herself using her super dope earrings and Synergy, a computer system created by her dad. Jem/Jerrica is pretty much always in disguise because of this, and her real identity is never known by the public. So basically, it is Hannah Montana, but you know, with computers and flashier earrings. This movie though? Um… YouTube is the disguise? Maybe photoshop? Not totally sure, but it seems like it is just about a band of girls being not-so-nice to each other. It’s supposed to make us feel good? Hmmmm. You’d think in the age of technology, they’d actually use some. – Adrian

October 23 – The Last Witch Hunter

Starring: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood, Michael Caine, Julia Engelbrecht

This movie is right up my alley. Witches, magic, and swords! Plus Vin Diesel! Sold and sold. There are aspects of the preview that reminded me of Highlander, but with more magic and special effects. The storyline is an original, a shocking concept nowadays. This may not be the move for everyone, but when Vin Diesel flies and punches a giant monster through the chest, I knew it was the movie for me. – Adrian

October 23 – Nasty Baby

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Alia Shawkat, Mark Margolis

Nasty Baby stars Sebastián Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, and Kristin Wiig and tells the story of a gay couple trying to have a child together with the help of their female best friend. Then things take a crazy twist, the nature of which is not totally clear. Watching this trailer was a whirlwind of emotions. At first you think, “Oh cool. This looks like a sweet movie and it has a biracial gay couple and wow, this is super great,” and then it turns a total 180 and you have no idea what the hell you’re getting into. While I’m excited about the representation in this movie and the conversations this will inevitably open up, I really have no idea what to expect. One movie reviewer compared the twist to “Gone Girl,” which brings a whole other crazy expectation to mind, but until it’s actually released, it’ll be hard to have an opinion about it. Bottom line, I’m excited and a little bit terrified. This thing looks a little bit deranged. Hopefully it’s in a good way. – Charlotte

October 23 – Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

Starring: Chris J. Murray, Dan Gill, Brit Shaw, Ivy George, Chloe Csengery

I know what you’re thinking, “Oh yay ANOTHER Paranormal Activity movie! Those NEVER get old!” (sarcasm sarcasm sarcasm) At least I hope that’s what you’re thinking because I tuned out of these movies after the second one. I’ve seen the first four, but the later two were bad enough that I didn’t even bother with the fifth. Anyhow, the newest Paranormal Acitivity has a few things going for it, as in it employs a new tactic the franchise hasn’t used before when you actually get to see the ghastly activity as it happens. Some if it looks genuinely creept, but other parts look just like the same stupid monster face gag they’ve been using since the first film. The whole ghost camera (a camera that is tied to that house because it can show you the beasties from beyond when you use it) seems kind of dumb, but it allows for a new scare tactic so it may work out for the best. I saw this trailer a few months ago and after re-watching it now I still have the same feeling towards it: it could either be so good and so scary, or horrendously dumb to the point you get frustrated while watching it. I’m on the fence because I’m tired of the Paranormal Activity gimmick, but if they successfully reinvent themselves the way they are trying to this could be one of the best horror movies of the season. – Keriann

October 23 – Rock the Kasbah

Starring: Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride, Scott Caan

Don’t play yourself, you know you are going to go see this movie simply because Bill Murray is in it. Basically, Richie Lanz (played by Bill Murray) winds up stuck in the Middle East after taking his rock superstar (played by Zooey Deschanel) to play a show for the troops overseas. However, things turn sour when his talent leave him high and dry, stealing his passport and identification. BUT WAIT! Things may take a drastic turn when Richie ends up discovering the next Kelly Rowland, only better. One might even say the next Beyoncé of the rock world. With this movie brining all start talent including Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Danny McBride and many others, I believe this movie has a solid chance to truly Rock the Kasbah…see what I did there *winky face*. The only thing this movie has to worry about is that it comes out on the same day as Tokyo Tribe…good luck. – Evan

October 23 – Suffragette

Starring:Helen Bonham Carter, Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep

The Suffragette movement that inspired women in the U.S to demand representation in government and rights. I’m extremely excited about this film because it shows the brutality women faced in demanding their rights. The right to vote, the right to divorce, childcare, and workers’ rights wasn’t given to women they fought for it tooth and nail. This preview showcases this and refuses to gloss over it. Granted, the draw-back of this film is women of color and their involvement in the movement. Shakes fist at sky…Come on British Cinema. Still going to watch it, than burn my bra after. (Well, not really. FYI bra burning never actually happened. It’s a huge myth.) – Jené

October 23 – Tokyo Tribe

Starring: People, I assume…

Let’s all just be honest here, no one really has any idea what the hell this is. Is it gangs in Tokyo, rap battling while in the middle of a gang war…musical? Yup, that is exactly what it is. Possibly the saddest part about this whole thing is, is that I am too damn excited to see it. Maybe it’s because I love anime, rap music and kung fu thrillers. It’s like they took my drunken thoughts and made it a reality. With the biggest movie starts you have ever heard of as of five minutes ago, Tomoko Karina, Ryôhei Suzuki, and Hitomi Katayama star in this Japanese musical to show the world that shooting people for your tribe can be cool, but it is even cooler to stand together against…posers? Honestly, I’m not quite sure what this whole movie is all about. – Evan

October 23 – Our Brand is Crisis

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Scott McNairy, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie

Another movie based off a documentary this month. Our Brand is Crisis was originally made in 2005 about the American political tactics used in the Bolivian presidential election in 2002. George Clooney and Grant Heslov are now producing a fictionalized account of the event. I am a fan of political movies, so I’m looking forward to this one; however, I will probably wait for it to come out on Redbox. This movie may be coming out at the perfect time; Scandal is at its height, but Our Brand is Crisis probably actually means something. – Adrian

October 30 – Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Starring: Patrick Schwarzenegger, Halston Sage, Tye Sheridan

I’d heard of Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, and foolishly I hoped it was about the Scout from Team Fortress 2 and that it was his guide, but alas, it is not. Instead it is a horrible cheesy, and likely insulting misogynistic piece of shit. Not only does this movie not look scary, but it also doesn’t look funny – aside from the crazy cat lady house full of zombie cats. That may be warrant a few laughs. However, the Zom Com has been done, quite well actually, and this film is way too late to the genre to have a leg to stand on without offering something unique of it’s own. It has no uniqueness of it’s own. Instead a bunch of teenage boys run around with a stripper learning how to fight off zombies and save the world. Personally, I hope they all die. – Keriann

Monthly Movie Preview: September 2015

August was just about as disappointing as it comes with movies, but that shouldn’t deter you from enjoying the theater this month.

September 4 – Dirty Weekend

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Alice Eve

I love Matthew Broderick. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is my favorite movie of all time, and much of that is thanks to him. But this movie looks god awful. Broderick and his business partner (Alice Eve) take a business trip where he looks into a sexual (possibly homosexual?) encounter he had there before. The plot isn’t really that clear, and what is the big deal if he is homosexual, or had a homosexual encounter? Also, the beginning of the trailer shows Broderick telling Eve they should get to know each other better. Then it cuts to them in a sex shop with a very large dildo in the foreground of the shot. That escalated quickly. – Adrian

September 4 – Dragon Blade

Starring: Jackie Chan, Adrien Brody, John Cusack

You know what’s less believable than Jackie Chan as an action star? A movie co-starring Adrien Brody and John Cusack as viable action stars. Give me a break. Jackie Chan, who has aged surprisingly well considering, is still a year over 60, and doesn’t have enough charisma left in the tank to carry a movie – especially one with a crappy concept weighed down by two ill-fitted actors well past their prime. Lucky for us, the entire movie summary is on Wikipedia. Give us the Chan-Jaa showdown we want before arthritis sets in. – Sherif

September 4 – The Transporter: Refueled

Starring: Ed Skrein, Ray Stevenson, Gabriella Wright, Loan Chabanol

While Jason Statham seems to have moved on to bigger and better things (like 8 Fast 8 Furious, y’all!), the all-but-forgotten Transporter franchise gets a beefed up new entry. It’s gotten quite a bit of crappy reviews, saying that it only wades in the same waters that the previous films did – but let’s keep in mind that this comes fresh off the heels of two seasons of the television show, which has seen favorable reviews. While this may be the bastard stepchild of action series, I’m sure there are enough fans to keep this from being a box office bleh. – Sherif

September 11 – 90 Minutes in Heaven

Starring: Hayden Christensen, Kate Bosworth

Hayden Christensen and Kate Bosworth both finally look like adults, but this movie looks a little too saccharin for my tastes. Christensen plays Don Piper, a pastor and a man who (in real-life) was killed in a car wreck in Texas. An on-looker prayed over Piper’s body, and Piper came back to life after 90 minutes. I know this story is a best-selling book and is recounted by many as a modern-day miracle, I felt myself cringe when Piper (Christensen) is wheeled into the church and he tells them, “You prayed. I’m here.” It almost sounds as if he is Jesus, and that just rubs me the wrong way. – Adrian

September 11 – A Brilliant Young Mind

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Rafe Spall, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan

Of all the independent movies coming out this month, this is one I am really excited for. Asa Butterfield (he’s everywhere now!) plays a young man who has autism and also happens to be a brilliant mathematician. This is a coming-0f-age film, but the challenges the young man will have to face in light of his (dis)ability will make the plot more interesting. I couldn’t help but smile throughout this one. – Adrian

September 11 – The Challenger

Starring: Michael Clarke Duncan (RIP), Kent Moran, S. Epatha Merkenson

America loves boxing movies. Heck, so do I! The Challenger was made several years ago, but is finally making the independent circuit and doing really well at it, too. In Michael Clarke Duncan’s final role, he plays the coach to Kent Moran’s Jaden, a young man who boxes to prevent he and his mother from being homeless. I expect this to be motivational and really sad. – Adrian

September 11 – The Perfect Guy

Starring: Michael Ealy, Sanaa Lathan, Morris Chestnut, Charles Dutton

Finally, the movie that will get my wife to stop fantasizing about Michael Ealy. Why can’t this be starring Channing Tatum instead? Ealy plays good guy turned nightmare stalker in this thriller, where he stars alongside Sanaa Lathan (where are my Love & Basketball fans at??) and Morris Chestnut. It starts out innocently enough, but escalates into full-on crazy pretty quickly after she starts swaying a return to her ex (Chestnut). So, it’s basically like every other lover-turned-stalker movie, but this time with black people. – Sherif

September 11 – The Visit

Starring: The signature feeling of being letdown by M Night Shyamalan, Kathryn Hahn, Deanna Dunagan, Ed Oxenbould

Oh, great… another M. Night Shyamalan movie. This movie will go down in history as the second most disappointing thing to ever happen on 9/11. Hansel and Gretel meets Paranormal Activity, The Visit follows two kids who are dropped off at the grandparents’ house. Granny, it turns out, i possessed by an evil force. Everything would have been fine had they just stayed in their goddamned room after 9:30. Who knows? Maybe the surprise ending this time is that it isn’t a crappy movie. What a twist! – Sherif

September 16 – Pawn Sacrifice

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber

I don’t care how many times you loop the .gif of Tobey Maguire dancing in Spiderman 3, I still think he’s a phenomenal actor. He could definitely kick Tom Holland’s ass. Anyway, so Spider-Man – I mean Tobey Maguire – and Sabretooth, err… Liev Schreiber duke it out chess-style in this movie. Maguire plays a reemerging Bobby Fischer, on the verge of mental breakdown as the pressure to be Soviet champ Boris Spassky during the Cold War mounts.I guarantee it’s the most exciting game of chess you’ll experience outside of a Wu-Tang album or Harry Potter book. – Sherif

September 18 – Black Mass

Starring: Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Dakota Johnson

I have never seen Johnny Depp look so cold. The above preview, which is not the same they are showing on TV, gave me straight up chills. Straight up. Depp plays Whitey Bulger, the notorious crime boss who is now serving two consecutive life sentences in federal prison. Bulger is linked to 11 murders, drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, and racketeering. He was also Number 2 on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, right under Osama bin Laden. So, not a very nice person. This is the movie I am most excited for this September; it is Depp’s most DiCaprio-like role yet. – Adrian

September 18 – Captive

Starring: Kate Mara, David Oyelowo, Michael K Williams (Omar), Mimi Rogers,

Known around the house as Stockholm’s Syndrome: The Movie, Captive takes the exact same concept as Labor Day, and rips the romance out of it through the butthole. Then sprinkles on some Olivia Pope-level drama to it and calls it a day. How does David Oyelowo go from playing Martin Luther King Jr. to a kidnapper in one movie? Shout out to Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire). Lastly, how does Kate Mara, who has been in just the crappiest movies, get more gigs than her sister Rooney? Don’t waste your time with this one (Sorry, Omar). – Sherif

September 18 – Cooties

Starring: Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, Jack McBrayer, Jorge Garcia, Nasim Pedrad

Horror-comedy has emerged as one of the strongest genre of film lately. With movies like Tucker & Dale vs. Evil and Cabin in the Woods, a wider demographic is reached. There might be a scare or two along the way, but it’s all in fun and games! Cooties, while not on the level of the previous two, looks to be along the same lines of fun and danger. It’s quite a departure from Elijah Wood’s normal roles, but he looks just as silly as the rest of the typically-silly crew. My only worry is that it will be mostly made up of “screaming comedy,” where people just yell really loud observations and pass it off as funny. – Sherif

September 18 – About Ray

Starring: Naomi Watts, Elle Fanning, Susan Sarandon, Tate Donovan

“About Ray” does look like a potentially good film but given that there aren’t any transgender people actually working on it, it will never be the film transgender men deserve. Will it open up a dialogue about transgender people and the difficulty of transition? I hope so. However, Fanning simply cannot portray something this raw and complex when she has not experienced it herself. They should have cast a transgender actor. -Charlotte

September 18 – Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodeland, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Giancarlo Esposito, and Aiden Gillen

Kids run. They die. We eat popcorn. For the second time. Cue giant spiders, Gus Fring, and Carcetti. Enjoy. – Adrian

September 25 – 99 Homes

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon

I got 99 problems and Michael Shannon is pretty much all of them… Seriously though, Shannon playing an asshole? No way! As if the housing market wasn’t bad enough, Nash (Garfield) get evicted by Shannon, who plays a corrupt real estate broker (totally different from his role as a corrupt alien warlord in Man of Steel, or a corrupt police officer in Boardwalk Empire – this guy just has a face that says “dirtbag”). To save his home, he has to do the same thing to other families. It’s the white collar drug game, and maybe a little too on the nose for what’d been happening in the market a decade ago. – Sherif

September 25 – Everest

Starring: Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley

The first thing you should notice is that it’s getting a PG-13 rating because of intense peril. What does that mean? How does the rating board judge that? In short a bunch of guys climb the tallest mountain in the world because what the hell else are we going to do with our time? Not climb mountains? Unlikely. Based on a true story of that one time the thing I just said happened, except when they get to the top of the mountain, they get hit by a big snowstorm. Being that it’s based on a true story, I’m betting the guy who wrote the story makes it out. If you like mountains, snow, guys who get out of stuff, and panicked women speaking brusquely into phones, this will be your jam. – Montgomery

September 25 – Hotel Transylvania 2

Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Sandberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Mel Brooks, Molly Shannon

I would not have predicted that enough people watched the first Hotel to warrant a second, but then again, Adam Sandler’s that way. Not having seen the first one, I can remember none of its marketing apart from the intense disappointment I felt to learn that Genndy Tartakovsky was providing all the art. In case that name doesn’t ring bells, he’s the master behind Dexter’s Lab and Samurai Jack. The story in this sequel seems like it will be the same uninspired barf that encrusts children’s movie (oh, do they learn that family’s all that matters?) multiplied by the crusty barf named Adam Sandler, but the art… what happened? How is it that I’m watching something produced by Adam Sandler and feeling impressed with the animation? I bet it’d be fun to watch with that Mannheim Steamroller Halloween CD playing, and then just make up your own story. – Montgomery

September 25 – Hell and Back

Starring: Mila Kunis, Danny McBride, Bob Odenkirk, TJ Miller, Nick Swardson, Michael Peña, JB Smoove

This is, hands-down, the best cast of any movie out this month. Director Tom Gianas (Sarah Silverman Show)’s stop motion film is about three friends (Augie, Curt, and Remy) who jokingly make a blood oath, then break it. Joke over. Curt gets dragged to hell and the other two must save their friends from Hell. It looks silly, and I’d be hard-pressed to find a reason to pay to see it in theaters, but I do want to see it eventually. – Sherif

September 25 – Sicario

Starring: Emily Blunt, Benecio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Jon Bernthal

I see this playing out a lot like Training Day, but with the cartel and FBI instead of the LAPD. Emily Blunt plays Kate, a well-meaning FBI agent who is sent to the US-Mexico border to take down a drug lord. Josh Brolin is one of the leads on the mission, but is obviously shady as shit. John Bernthal (Shane from The Walking Dead) is also in there, which is pretty much a guaranteed sell for any movie. The action will be there. The story will be there. Can Emily Blunt pull off a believable badass field agent? – Sherif

September 25 – The Anomaly

Starring: Ian Somerhalder, Noel Clarke, Alexis Knapp

The preview for The Anomaly looks like a sci-fi version of the intro to CSI. But Ian Somerhalder is in it, so I’m sold (total objectification). – Adrian

September 25 – The Intern

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Robert de Niro, Nate Wolff, Adam DeVine

It might not share the same plot as The Internship, but I expect it to have just as many good feels! Robert de Niro, once one of Hollywood’s best tough guys, is a straight-up teddy bear in this film. He fills the role of “Senior intern” for Jules (Hathaway), a successful business mogul. Along the way, he teaches the young employees, Jules, and himself about life and stuff. There’s a lot of potential for this to be a generation gap-filler in terms of comedy and togetherness… If only real old people were anything like this. – Sherif

Monthly Movie Preview: August 2015

July had some of the year’s biggest blockbusters, but August still has a few tricks up its sleeve – a variety of action reboots, indy heart-warmers and weird concept films.

August 4-12 only – Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F

Starring: The original voices of Dragon Ball Z

A great many of us grew up watching Dragon Ball Z after school, I still have a few of the VHS. I used to just be in love with the show. Akira Toriyama, the original creator, has written the screen play and a long time series animator, Tadayoshi Yamamuro directed. The big story about this movie is it heralds the return of Frieza, possibly one of the most important antagonists from the the series. Now, yes, Frieza did return once before, with his father even but that didn’t last very long. Now he’s been resurrected via the dragon balls and he’s back and stronger than ever and he seems to have yet another form. Frieza turns a nice bright golden yellow, very much like a super saiyan. One thing that the trailer hasn’t revealed yet are actually super saiyans though, which is strange because is a time line of the series we know that all of the saiyans have gone full yellow hair. Oh and Master Roshi has definitely juicing. – Scott

August 7 – The Fantastic Four

Starring: Michael B Jordan, Kate Mara, Miles Teller, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reginald Cathey

The Fantastic Four movies are like paying someone 7-15 dollars to barf in your face. There just hasn’t been a good one yet, and it’s really difficult to convince me a good one could ever come. And if that’s not bad enough, FF2: and Silver Surfer Too! has probably obliterated any chance we’ll ever see a legit Silver Surfer movie. But then again… this trailer looks significantly better than any other FF movie stuff we’ve seen before. It looks like a movie that was intentionally made and not a CW after school special. It also seems like it’s adopting the Ultimate Fantastic Four story vein of (slightly) harder science, and more inclusive character rosters, and slightly updated themes and story ideas. I think overall I like the image of this movie: I’m legitimately excited about Reed’s interdimensional machine; Thing looks pretty great (his face looks wonky, but great otherwise); and it feels like I’m watching a trailer for a more respected sci-fi epic. I think I’m on board. The only thing that makes me nervous is how much they aren’t showing Doom: a single second in the whole 3 minutes. That’s iffy. I also heard they made him an angry blogger. That’s intensely dumb and possibly a movie breaker, but there’s enough here to make me willing to give it a chance. And if you haven’t read Ultimate Fantastic Four, you definitely definitely should. – Montgomery

August 7 – Shaun The Sheep Movie

Starring: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Omid Djalili, Kate Harbour

This is basically another Wallace and Gromit but with sheep. I personally hate the Claymation style of movies but despite that, this looks like it could be very funny. It has a sort of Madagascar 3 vibe going on with the sheep on the run from animal control in an unknown city. The best part of the whole trailer is when they are brought to animal control, there is a Siamese cat in a collar that does the whole Silence of the Lambs Hannibal Lector thing. It’s pretty funny. – Robert

August 7 – Ricki and the Flash

Starring: Meryl Streep, Mammie Gummer, Audra McDonald,  Kevin Kline, Charlotte Rae, Rick Springfield, Sebastian Stan

Typically, I would not go for this kind of movie. But for some reason it is reminding of Stepmom in feel. Adult women looking back on their lives and their decisions and trying to make things better now. I kinda like that idea. Plus, you know, Meryl Streep. And she looks damn cool with that hair! Streep’s daughter, Mamie Gummer, plays Ricki’s daughter, and has said publicly it was hard being mean to her mom. I think it would be interesting just to see that dynamic. This is one I will definitely see, but maybe I’ll wait until Redbox. – Adrian

August 7 – Cop Car

Starring: Kevin Bacon, single separations of Kevin Bacon

Fuck da police!!! Naw, just kidding, cops can be alright sometimes I guess. However, Kevin Bacon is not one of these cops. As two young boys find an abandoned cop car with no signs of ownership within range, they decide to be young badasses and take the cop car on a joy ride through the country side. Yet, things may not be as they appear. Although it is unclear as to why Kevin Bacon wants the boys who took his car dead, I am guessing it has something to do with whatever is hidden in his trunk. Or it could have something to do with the body he was dragging away. Either way, the events which will occur on that day are for sure going to leave those two boys with severe trauma if they don’t end up dead. I think before ever seeing this movie, it is obvious that taking an abandoned, well working police car is a bad idea. Kids are stupid. – Evan

August 7 – Diary of a Teenage Girl

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Alexander Skarsgard, Bel Powley, Christopher Meloni, Margarita Levieva

The title really threw me off. I was not at all interested until I saw the preview. Diary of a Teenage Girl follows a 15 year-old who loses her virginity to her mom’s boyfriend (played by Alexander Skarsgard). As she searches for love, she also starts to think that love means sex. This movie immediately caught my attention when it began incorporating comic book elements; in my research, I found out that Diary of a Teenage Girl is a graphic novel released in 2002 by Phoebe Gloeckner. Like the book, I imagine the movie will be a disturbing, yet honest telling of what it is like to grow up female in America. – Adrian

August 7 – The Gift

Starring: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars to you Star Wars nerds), Tim Griffith, Allison Tollman

The Gift leaves me torn: on one hand it looks like a terrifying psychological thriller, on the other hand it may be so predictable within the first thirty minutes that the viewer is likely to fall asleep. The movie tells the story of a man (Jason Bateman) who moves home with his wife (Rebecca Hall) and runs into an old “friend” (Joel Edgerton). The friend comes on too strong in some odd ways and is told to stay away, at which point he starts doing insane things to the man and his wife, ultimately culminating in the revelation of a terrible secret from the past and what will likely be a gruesome and disturbing murder involving the wife and a baby. At face value this sounds like something that will be really scary in that dark way that sticks with you, in that way that you just cannot shake. However I have two issue with this – first, violence towards infants is typically a trashy tactic, and unless done extremely well and purposefully it will destroy and credit the film had up to that point. Second, the trailer seems to elude that as it turns out, th man (Bateman) may actually be the wolf in sheep’s clothing which has been done over and over before. I definitely think this movie is worth a shot, because it looks genuinely horrifying and like it will leave audiences speechless, but I cannot guarantee that it won’t lose it’s unique edge but inching into far too familiar territory. – Keriann

*Note: I am only speculating that there will be violence towards an infant. There is no guarantee, I am just fearing the worst from seeing the trailer. If that is something that will turn your stomach in an irreversible way you may want to avoid this movie on opening weekend to be on the safe side.

August 14 – Underdogs

Starring: Nicholas Hoult (Beast from Days of Future Past), Bella Thorne, Taran Killam (Wild N Out), Bobby Moyniham (ChoZen), John Leguizamo, Matthew Morrison

GOOOOOAAAALLLL!! If animated movies have taught me anything, it’s that the power tears can do all sorts of things. From bringing people back from the dead to making foosball figures come to life. The logic and power never ceases to amaze me. The town is about to be destroyed………… so we play a soccer match to save it. If only that type of business deal was conducted in today’s society. It was only a matter of time before they made a soccer movie I suppose. This movie has a pretty big list of well-known actors and looks like it will be full of laughs. – Robert

August 14 – People Places Things

Starring: Jemaine Clement (MIB III), Jessica Williams (The Daily Show), Regina Hall (Scary Movie 2), Michael Chernus (OITNB)

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but there’s something about single dad movies that really draw me in. Comedian Jemaine Clement, or Professor Koontz from Napoleon Dynamite, as some may know him, stars as Will Henry, a graphic novelist and teacher who walks in on his wife cheating on him. I’d explain the rest of the plot, but it can be summarized with “he tries to raise his two daughters and find himself.” It’s full of cute, dry humor, and would be an excellent movie to see with a partner. Or by yourself; I bet it works out for Will. – Sherif

August 14 – Ten Thousand Saints

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Ethan Hawke, Avan Jogia (Tut), Hailee Steinfeld, Julianne Nicholson, Emile Hirsch

Ender is all growed up! Asa Butterfield plays Jude, a teenager who is mixed up in sex and drugs at a young age. When his bff dies of a drug overdose, Jude is sent to live with his dad in Manhattan and becomes part of a straight-edge group, a total turn around from the life he has known. All of it is set in 1987 (the year I was born!), so I am really interested in it. Immediately, the trailer reminded me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Wackness. I have a feeling this will be a hit for me. – Adrian

August 14 – The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Starring: Henry Cavill, Arnie Hammer, Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Elizabeth Debicki, Jared Harris, Hugh Grant,

There is so much yes that I have for this movie. Most modern movie updates seem blah, but this one is clearly packed with punch. Humor and action is exactly what this franchise needs. Cavill and Hammer have already proven themselves excellent actors, and I expect they will play well off of each other. I also really like that instead of trying to totally update the story, we will be transported to the 60’s. This will be the last good action movie of the summer, and will be totally worth it. – Adrian

August 14 – Straight Outta Compton

Starring: O’Shea Jackson (Ice Cube’s son), Corey Hawkins (soon to be Heath in The Walking Dead), Jason Mitchell, Aldis Hodge (Leverage), Neil Brown Jr. (Guillermo from The Walking Dead), Paul Giamatti

Just watching this preview makes me feel like a badass! I am ready to riot to some straight west coast rap and rebel against the establishment all for the sake of improving life’s conditions and watching a good movie. Ever since I first saw a trailer for this movie, months and months before it ever had a release date, I have been drooling with excitement. Being able to view the rise and struggles of NWA on a big screen seemed like a crazy idea only a few short years ago; however, today it will be a true work of art for hip-hop heads (hopefully). Although, I do not expect this movie to make a smashing at the box office due to its narrow audience. This movie appears to resonate with minorities, the hip-hop community who enjoy classics and history, and those interested in the overall culture NWA produced. Other than these individuals, I don’t see this having much appeal to other audiences. With Corey Hawkins playing Dr. Dre, Jason Mitchell playing Eazy-E, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Ice Cube’s son) playing Ice Cube, this movie is staying close to home. This movie is also said to portray Snoop Doggy Dogg, Suge Knight, Warren G and Tupac. I’m curious if Nate Dogg, Kurupt, or any other member of the Dogg Pound will make an appearance. Overall, this movie is bringing a lot of excitement and personally, I cannot wait to see it in theaters. – Evan

August 14 – Return to Sender

Starring: Rosamund Pike, Shiloh Fernandez, Nick Nolte, Illeana Douglas

Rape revenge story—totally have no plans of going to see it. Just watching the preview bothered me in ways that I have no desire to watch it.  I don’t think I’ll have to worry missing out on anything. The preview itself is edited in a hap-hazard and choppy fashion. It comes off as a Lifetime movie. And I feel you pretty much get the whole story in the preview. If you plan on to watch save your money; I’m sure it will be in the free movie section on demand in no time. – Jené

August 21 – Being Evel

Starring: Johnny Knoxville

I always refer to crazy drivers as driving like Evel Knievel , so this movie is a great opportunity to look at the origins of that phrase. It is a documentary style film with some of the biggest daredevils in the business talking about his life, how it changed everything and what it all meant to them. Johnny Knoxville seems to have a large part in the narration which should be enjoyable because of his hilarious personality. It will also be interesting to see how he feels about the legend and the way it shaped Jackass. – Robert

August 21 – Grandma

Starring: Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Harden, Judy Greer, Laverne Cox (OITNB), John Cho (Harold & Kumar)

Grandma looks absolutely hilarious. Lily Tomlin’s granddaughter finds herself pregnant and broke. Tomlin’s character is anything but senile and dottering. Her humor and personality is bigger than life. I was sold when Tomlin hits her granddaughters boyfriend in the crotch with a hockey stick. This is one indie I can’t wait for. – Adrian

August 21 – Hitman: Agent 47

Starring: Rupert Friend, Zachary Quinto, Hannah Ware, Ciarán Hinds (Mance Rayder from Game of Thrones)

Agent 47 is back and it looks like he will send the majority of the film with another clone like him. Being a major fan of the games, it is hard for me to look at this objectively. The entire game is supposed to be played without ever being noticed, and in the movie he gets into a shootout in the middle of a crowded intersection with an elite commando team of some sort. It does look like they tried to borrow as much as possible from the games but in the end it will probably be nothing like them. All that being said, I can’t wait to see this movie. – Robert

August 21 – American Ultra

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, John Leguizamo, Connie Britton, Walton Goggins (“Damn you, Du-jango”), Tony Hale (Buster Bluth),

This movie has the potential to be amazing, but also to be trash. Jesse Eisenberg fits the role of stoner sleeper agent perfectly, and Kristen Stewart has finally shed the glittery stigma of her Twilight days. Then again, Topher Grace is leading the military charge against Jesse Eisenberg; I can’t believe that guy is still getting roles after he defiled Eddie Brock… Anyway, it’ll be full of murder, mayhem and pot jokes. Whether or not that is your thing will determine if this is worth your time. – Sherif

August 21 – She’s Funny That Way

Starring: Owen Wilson, Imogen Potts, Will Forte, Jennifer Aniston, Rhys Ifans,

This trailer reminded me of the She’s All That trailer. A character is married to another character, who’s sleeping with other character, who’s in love and date other character…The list could go on. The movie looks like it’ll be pleasant enough. And it’s been awhile since I’ve seen Owen Wilson in anything and him alone makes me think I’ll try to watch the movie. Jennifer Anniston is also in the film so, how wrong could the film go? Imogen Poots (28 Days Later) and Rhys Ifans (Elementary) are also in the film a few favorite British actors. I think the movie, based on the trailer will be a rather enjoyable and comedic watch. – Jené

August 28 – Sinister 2

Starring: Shannyn Sossamon, Robert Daniel Sloan, Dartanian Sloan, Lea Coco, Tate Ellington

Did you see Sinister? Yes? Good deal, then you don’t need to see Sinister 2. If not, you still don’t need to see Sinister 2, just go watch the fist one because the sequel has literally nothing new to offer you. What a disappointment this movie is. Sinister didn’t need a sequel, but because money rules the world Sinister 2 came into existence and tells the exact same story as the first one. Throughout history there has been this ghoul, and he does this thing where he corrupts children and gets them to kill their parents and siblings – and for some reason he has them film it too. Probably because that makes the movie seem scary when in reality it’s just a disturbing tactic to make you feel ill. Sinister 2 once again finds a father researching this ghoul without realizing that his obsession is subjecting his children to said ghoul. The kid will become evil and kill his family and the cycle will continue. It is the exact same as the first movie, only there will be different meat suits to kill off in interesting ways and stuff into body bags. This movie seems like nothing more than a ploy to try and make more money off of an idea that was poorly thought out in the first place. You can avoid this one, even once it comes to Netflix. – Keriann

August 28 – We Are Your Friends

Starring: Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski, Wes Bentley (Seneca Crane), Jon Bernthal

This is the white man’s Straight Outta Compton. It seems like the shadow of High School Musical will forever loom over Zac Effron. At least we won’t have to listen to him sing in this movie. I find it hard to watch movies about music because they often times try to appeal to various emotions in the most uncomfortable ways. That, and I can’t stand watching the main character construct his Magnum Opus of the film by putting together the most random collection of sounds ever found to make something that is played back either in slow motion or with a crappy flashback to him gathering the sounds. They show him recording a nail gun in the trailer for crying out loud. This has got to be the must miss of the season. – Robert

August 28 – Z for Zachariah

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, Chris Pine

With an all-star cast like Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine, you’d think we would have heard more about this movie, right? The world has ended (of COURSE it was a nuclear fallout – do you even have to ask anymore?), and a scientist (Ejiofor) connects with a young woman who fears she is all alone. Until, that is, he is super duper cock-blocked by Chris Pine. And I think that’s the jist of the movie. It’s like The Walking Dead if only Rick, Shane, and Lori existed… and if Lori was the hottest woman on the planet. – Sherif

August 28 – 7 Chinese Brothers

Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Stephen Root, Tunde Adebimpe (lead singer of TV on the Radio), Alex Karpovsky (Ray on HBO’s Girls), Alex Ross Perry (writing live-action Winnie the Pooh movie)

At first I thought this movie looked terrible but it actually seems to have some potential. It has Jason Schwartzman starring in it, who has an interesting sense of humor based on the few things I’ve seen him in. There have been plenty of movies out there like this, so it is hard to recommend someone drop money on an independent film. This is one that I will wait until it comes out at RedBox or Netflix…… and probably still not rent since I will have forgotten about this trailer. Also, what does this name have to do with anything? – Robert

Monthly Movie Preview: July 2015

July, I’m gonna let you finish in a minute, but June had one of the best movie months of ALL TIME! As summer temperatures rise, there is still room for a few more blockbusters, and some dark horse indy movies.

July 1 – Magic Mike XXL

Starring: Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash and Rick Flair (yes, the wrestlers), Donald Glover, tWitch, Amber Heard, Gabriel Iglesias, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Straham,

I mean, it’s all about the plot, right? Kidding! No one cares about the plot, especially since the first Magic Mike was too much about the plot. Which as it turned out, was kind of dark. Things look a little bit lighter this time around. With the addition of Jada Pinkett-Smith, Donald Glover, and So You Think You Can Dance‘s tWitch, this looks like it could be a funny male stripper movie; everything the first one was not. Oh, and for clarification, this movie is absolutely about the Man Meat. #ComeAgain. – Adrian

July 1 – Terminator Genisys

Starring: Emilia Clarke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Jai Courtney, Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor), Lee Byung-hun (Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe), J.K. Simmons, Sandrine Holt (Fear the Walking Dead)

This may be the Terminator movie no one asked for, and that’s saying something in comparison to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Genisys is sort of a retelling of the original movie, except not at all. John Conner sends Kyle Reese back in time to protect his mother from a Arnold Schwarzenegger. Instead of being a remake of the original movie, which would be a bad idea, it was decreed that this would be a brand new story where everything goes horribly wrong. Kyle Reese goes back in time where Sarah Conner is waiting for him with her very own giant Austrian terminator, known as Guardian. Terminator Genisys is sort of a weird amalgamation of the first three Terminator movies. T-800 shaped like Arnold Schwarzenegger, check. T-1000 that takes the shape of a cop that actually looks a lot like Robert Patrick, check. A strange combination of both models, check. I don’t know about this one. – Scott

July 3 (worldwide July 10) – Amy

Starring: Amy Winehouse, bunch of other people

It’s an Amy Winehouse documentary, so it is wrapped up in controversy. Originally approved by her estate, Asif Kapadia set out to make a movie about the singer that captured her true essence. Now her estate is saying the movie has told many lies about Amy’s life, including her relationship with her father. Winehouse’s death was hard for me; she was my absolute favorite singer. Her public and personal life were both in shambles during her career, but that did not take away from the fact that she had the most amazing voice. I will be bringing my tissues to his one. – Adrian

July 10 – Minions

Starring: Pierre Coffin (voice of the Minions), Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Geoffrey Rush, Jennifer Saunders

A prequel to the hit animation Despicable Me, Minions tells the story of everyone’s favorite, yellow little mess makers. Minions Kevin, Stuart and Bob set out on a journey to find an evil mastermind for their clan to serve under and find themselves in 1960’s New York City. This movie could go one of two ways. It could either majorly stink as an obvious marketing ploy to sell more yellow plushies or it could be a really funny, cute movie that ties into an already great franchise. Maybe wait a few days to see what the reviews are before shelling out the cash for a movie ticket. – Charlotte

July 10 – Self/Less

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Matthew Goode, Michelle Dockery, Natalie Martinez, Victor Garber

Holy crap, where has Ryan Reynolds been these past few years – besides Deadpooling? I’m still waiting on the Celebrity Deathmatch between he and Gosling… Anyway, it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen a Ryan Reynolds movie that looked entertaining, and this one looks impressive. It sort of feeds of the (albeit terrible) Justin Timberlake movie In Time, where the world’s wealthiest get a chance to continue living past their natural lives, in this case by transferring bodies. It also has a Dollhouse vibe, where the “shells” that the wealthy person’s consciousness is transferred to is never quite clean. And, of course, it’s wrapped up nicely with Ben Kingsley playing the rich old guy. I’d give this a chance. – Sherif

July 10 – Strangerland

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving

Strangerland: I have no idea what this movie is about. All I know is that it is about two teenagers who disappear into the outback and how that affects their families and brings their darkness to light. Honestly, that’s not much to go on and the trailer only makes that premise seem more confusing. I do have to say though, that the movie looks good. I don’t know what to expect, but it seems like this one will leave audiences speechless after taking them on a dramatic thrill ride. Strangerland is lead by a strong cast, and has so far done quite well on the festival circuit so chances are if you want to give it a try you won’t come out of it disappointed. – Keriann

July 10 – The Gallows

Starring: Cassidy Gifford, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos

I spent my entire life as a theater geek, acting in plays and working behind the scenes and of all the programs I was involved in and all the schools I went to there was one constant through all of them: every theater has a ghost. The Gallows is the first movie I’ve seen that focuses on that very premise when a group of people break into a theater where a kid supposedly died on stage during a production of the play, The Gallows. Obviously he is not a very peaceful spirit and the rest basically unfolds from there. Here’s what works about this movie: the story it tells will ring bells and give goosebumps to audiences because it’s about an urban legend we’ve all heard at one point. Whether it was the ghost of the theater, the summer camp or  the dormitory – we’ve all heard the tales and we’ve all listened in the quiet to see if a spirit really is there. Here’s what doesn’t work about this movie: it’s ANOTHER found footage film and I am so god damn tired of those. I probably wouldn’t spend my money to see this one in the theaters, chances are that will go to seeing Jurassic World or Mad Max again but when it hits Netflix I’ll be excited to give it a watch. – Keriann

July 17 – Ant-Man

Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, T.I., Wood Harris, Judy Greer,

Ant-Man might be the funniest Marvel movie to date. Since Paul Rudd not only stars, but co-wrote the screenplay, I do have high hopes. Add in other co-writers Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block), and Adam McKay (Step-Brothers, Anchorman), and you have a winner. The current comic keeps me in stitches, and while I think the only similarity will be Scott Lang, I’m still expecting the same type of humor. By the way, this is going to be superhero movie. But I have a feeling that might be an after thought in the movie, too. – Adrian

July 17 – Irrational Man

Starring: Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Jamie Blackley, Parker Posey

When I saw that Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix we going to be in a movie together, I was curious and a bit excited to see what it would be about. But then I found out Irrational Man is a Woody Allen film. I’ve never been a fan of his films, and I do not expect to be seeing this one either. Joaquin Phoenix plays a philosophy professor who’s tormented and doesn’t seem to feel much or get any pleasure out of life. Emma Stone is his student. Half way through the preview something changes and the professor seems to suddenly come out of his malaise while Stone seems irritated and annoyed. It is almost as if the two characters traded places. For me the preview, was boring and uninteresting. With Allen’s name attached to it, it doesn’t give me much hope that it’ll be a good film, either. – Jené

July 17 – Mr. Holmes

Starring: Ian McKellen, Colin Starkey, Patrick Kennedy, Hattie Morahan, Laura Linney

In this mystery drama, it turns out Sherlock Holmes is actually a real person and has been retired for years. Grappling with an unreliable memory, he must attempt to solve a case from his past now haunting him. I’m incredibly excited for this film. As a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, a movie about him being a real person is really fun to think about. I’m a total sucker for fiction weaving with reality, making this an exciting concept. I’m expecting lots of inside jokes and references. It looks to be a lovingly crafted story which will appeal to fans of the original text and novices alike. Ian McKellen is the perfect choice for Sherlock, and I couldn’t stop grinning watching the trailer. – Charlotte

July 17 – Trainwreck

Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Tilda Swinton, Brie Larson, Colin Quinn, LeBron James, John Cena, Ezra Miller, Barkhad Abdi (the guy from Captain Phillips), Dave Atell, Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat), Marisa Tomei, Daniel Radcliffe

Why do I want to see Trainwreck? Amy Schumer, of course. There is no denying this woman has made you laugh at least once in the last two months. The plot isn’t one I’d normally be drawn to; a woman in New York has a tough time getting a decent guy, and then BAM… Bill Hader comes along. However, Schumer’s sense of humor, Judd Apatow taking the director’s chair, Bill Hader playing a love interest, and LeBron James’ new career are enough to make me very interested in this movie. – Adrian

July 24 – American Heist

Starring: Hayden Christiansen, Adrien Brody, Akon, Jordana Brewster

If I had to make a list of the crappiest movies out this summer, American Heist would be on it. That being said, if I also had to make a list of the movies I would see out of said crappy list, American Heist would also be on that. Hayden Christiansen plays James, “a man with nothing to lose” (don’t you just love those clichés?) who is trying to turn his life around after his brother Frankie (another classic thug name), played by Brody, takes the rap for him and goes to jail in his stead. Of course, things go wrong. Frankie owes people money, somebody let Akon act, and it’s a story you’ve heard 25,000,000 times before. WACK. – Sherif

July 24 – The Look of Silence

Starring: Documentary

The Look of Silence is an Oppenheimer documentary that follows a family who has survived genocide. It’s a companion piece to his earlier work The Act of Killing. When I heard that Werner Herzog was one of the producers on the film, I was instantly curious. He’s one of my favorite documentarians and he has a tendency to back up a lot of really good work. The preview itself chokes you with emotion as a man talks to his mother about being surrounded by her son’s killers. Though, as the preview continues we get praise for the documentary instead of presenting the actual story the documentary is portraying.  While I know I will eventually watch the documentary it’s hard to tell what to expect from just watching the preview alone. I wish documentaries would rely on the story more than what critics of to say about the piece. – Jené

July 24 – Dark Was the Night

Starring: Kevin Durand, Lukas Haas, Bianca Kajlich, Sabina Gadecki (The League)

I am a sucker for a good monster movie, and this one really gets my hopes up. It’s so hard to do a good monster movie these days because frankly people are so much scarier, but there is still something so primal and scary about being preyed upon by something inhuman from nature. Dark was the Night is about a small town sheriff who begrudgingly realizes that the stories he was told as a child about a monster in the woods were more than just make believe. I am very excited about this movie after watching the trailer. It does not look over the top by any means, instead it feels like a subtle true to life tale of how this would impact people in reality and not fantasy. Spoiler alert: that shit would be terrifying. I would recommend a trip to the theater for this one, and maybe potentially sleeping with the lights on afterward. – Keriann

July 24 – Paper Towns

Starring: Nat Wolff (Fault in Our Stars), Cara Develingne, Austin Ambers (The Kings of Summer),

After a wild night of revenge and mischief, Quentin embarks on a wild journey to find Margo, the girl he’s been pining over for most of his life. Based on the novel by the award winning author and internet guru John Green, this long anticipated film promises to ignite the curiosity inside you. ANOTHER JOHN GREEN MOVIE! I’ve been waiting for this film ever since I first read Paper Towns in 2010. After the success of The Fault in Our Stars, I can’t wait to see what this film has in store. TFIOS was such a brilliant adaptation, I have no doubts that this one will be just as faithful. Another giant gift for Nerdfighteria is just around the corner! Until then, DFTBA! – Charlotte

July 24 – Pixels

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, Michelle Monaghan, Sean Bean (for Winterfell!), Ashley Benson, Jane Krakowski

Right away, the first problem with Pixels is that it opens up with images of things that bring you joy, make you happy, and aren’t made with the kind of cynical joyless sticky cash-grabiness that drips from the oily pores Adam Sandler. Seriously. This movie is dumb, Adam Sandler’s dumb, and he hasn’t been funny since Billy Madison. If you want to simulate what watching this movie will be like, just repeat the trailer for two terrible hours, add in some good ol’ fashion racism, and beat your face against the wall. Still better than having to sit through a full frontal lobe lobotomy. Er, I mean Adam Sandler. Same difference. And I don’t know if you care, Kevin (there’s only one person who cares, his name is Kevin, and I don’t know if he’s reading this), but there’s a single frame at 1:38 telling you to unlock Lady Lisa at Dojoquest.com. To which I summon level 12 Lucille Bluth. Better yet, just go rewatch Arrested Development. That’s what I’m going to do. – Montgomery

July 24 – Southpaw

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Naomie Harris, Forest Whitaker, Victor Ortiz, 50 Cent, Tyrese Gibson, Rita Ora

This film is nearly five years in the making, with Jake Gyllenhaal replacing Eminem as the lead actor (that makes TWO big name movies that Eminem could have starred in) in this boxing film. Lefty boxer Billy Hope is finally getting ready to retire from the sport to spend time with his family. Unfortunately, he does some knucklehead stuff and his wife dies, leaving him to be a crappy father to his child. Maybe it’s the feeling that this movie is too close to 8 Mile conceptually, but I’m not completely sold on the premise of the film. I love Gyllenhaal as an actor, but it’ll take something more than a training montage and an Eminem theme song to get me to the theaters. – Sherif

July 24 – The Vatican Tapes

Starring: Kathleen Robertson, Michael Peña, Djimon Hounsou

I’m not entirely sure what the plot of this movie is. I can’t tell if it’s a movie about a movie and that’s why it’s called The Vatican Tapes, if it’s the first in a series and that’s why it’s called The Vatican Tapes, or if it’s supposed to be a found footage movie and that’s why it’s called The Vatican Tapes. But, it looks like another one of those missed-the-point trying-to-out-do-The-Exorcist movies about an exorcism gone awry. On paper, this sort of stuff speaks my Changuage, but more often than not, it’s a series of jump scares and diet water level Catholicism. It might be worth seeing if you think jump scares are streets ahead. – Montgomery

July 24 – A LEGO Brickumentary

Starring: Jason Bateman (narrator)

If you’re like me and billions of other kids who grew up on LEGOs, then this documentary will give you a chronic case of the feels. These little building blocks might seem like they’ve sold out with the collector’s sets and the over-branding, but they are still an international sensation. LEGOs reach across poverty lines and geographic lines and teach kids how to BUILD. Well, I could go on about how LEGOs have changed my life, but you should just watch Jason Bateman do it himself in LEGO form. Whether it be a handful of blocks, or a grand scale like the Star Wars tie-fighter, LEGOs inspire. – Sherif

July 29 – Vacation

Starring: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann, Chris Hemsworth, Chevy Chase, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele), Nick Kroll,

From the writer of Horrible Bosses, John Francis Dailey (HOW COOL IS THAT!) comes the next installment of the wonderful National Lampoon’s Vacation series. Now Rusty is all grown up with a a family all his own. What else is he to do but recreate the family trip to Wally World; the first time around went pretty well. Adult Rusty, played by Ed Helms, and Christina Applegate pack their kids into a new horrible family vehicle and hit the road, and, of course, shenanigans ensue. With cameo’s from Chevy Chase and Beverley D’Angelo, and a supporting cast too funny to mention here, this movie is going to be too excellent to pass up. – Scott

July 31 – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, America Olivo, Alec Baldwin

I may be in the minority of not hating Tom Cruise, but I think most people are looking forward to the latest Mission Impossible installment. Here are some reasons to be excited: Simon Pegg, kick-ass woman spy lady, explosions, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, action, Simon Pegg, humor, maybe a good plot, and Simon Pegg. If you like spy movies, and if you are American and have eyes, you do, then this will be the best bet for your July theater going. I for one, am pretty darn excited. – Adrian

July 31 – The End of the Tour

Starring: Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg, Ron Livingston, Anna Chlumsky

Whether you like it or not, Jesse Eisenberg is coming back in a big way. The End of the Tour is a departure from his other upcoming work like American Ultra and Batman vs. Superman; it’s another under-the-radar indy film that has the potential to be quite poignant and reflective. Eisenberg plays Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky, who goes on a road trip to interview David Foster Wallace (played by Segel). Wallace has practically Salinger’ed himself after Infinite Jest, and Lipsky is looking to bring him out of his funk. It’s basically Get Him to the Greek for intellectuals… or, at least, that’s how I’m going to hope it turns out. – Sherif

The Voice Cast for Disney’s The Good Dinosaur Revealed

After a trailer was released last week, we’ve been abuzz about The Good Dinosaur, an upcoming Pixar film about the hypothetical world where dinosaurs were never wiped out by an asteroid. Here’s the first piece of news since the trailer – the all-new voice cast. This is not the same cast we heard of last year (which included Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris, and others), but still full of surprises:

• Raymond Ochoa (NBC’s “The Night Shift,” TNT’s “Rizzoli & Isles,” Disney’s A Christmas Carol) provides the voice of an Apatosaurus named Arlo.
• Jeffrey Wright (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – parts I & II, Boardwalk Empire) was tapped as the voice of Poppa, Arlo’s father.
• Steve Zahn (Captain Fantastic, Ridiculous Six, Rescue Dawn, Mad Dogs) provides the voice of a pterodactyl named Thunderclap.
• AJ Buckley (Murder in the First, Justified) voices a T-Rex called Nash.
• Anna Paquin (True Blood) is the voice of T-Rex Ramsey.
• Sam Elliot (Justified, I’ll See You In My Dreams, Grandma) was called on as the voice of a tough T-Rex named Butch.
• Frances McDormand (Olive Kitteridge, Fargo) was tapped as the voice of Momma, Arlo’s mother.
• Marcus Scribner (black-ish) voices Arlo’s brother Buck.
• Jack Bright (Monsters University) provides the voice of Arlo’s unlikely human friend, Spot.

Be on the look-out for the news-asaurus as more about this movie develops. The Good Dinosaur makes its way to theaters November 25th.

Source: EW

Monthly Movie Preview: June 2015

May kicked off the summer with some solid flicks, but June seems to be a lull in the action, sticking a couple good action films together with a variety of other genres. With the exception of a few good films, it looks like this month might be a good time to go outside.

June 3 – Entourage

Starring: Kevin Connelly, Adrian Grenier, Billy Bob Thornton, Haley Joel Osment, Kevin Dillon, Jeremy Piven, Kid CuDi, Bow Wow, bunch of cameos

The gang is back for one more hurrah. Vince, Eric, Turtle, Drama and most importantly Ari are doing everything they can to make sure Vince’s directorial debut goes off without a hitch, or a bad review. I was a fan of the show for seven of the eight seasons, never did finish that last season. This seems like the logical end to the Ballad of Vince. His character went from being basically a nobody, to the biggest star in Hollywood, then to rehab. Him becoming a director is the next most logical step. The movie looks like it could be fun, as fun as the show ever was. It’s guaranteed that there will be lots of Ari yelling, Eric whining, and of course boobs. The show was never very deep and the movie probably won’t be either but if anything it’s the perfect guys night out movie. – Scott

June 5 – Insidious: Chapter 3

Starring: Dermot Mulroney, Stafanie Scott, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Lin Shaye

The Insidious series has been one of the more successful horror franchises over the last few years. The original chapter is one of the best scary movies I’ve seen, possibly ever. The second chapter was a little lacking but still a lot better than most of the found footage crap that gets put out these days. The Insidious trilogy stands out because of its writing. It does not solely rely on gore or jump out scares, it is more reminiscent of Poltergeist and other supernatural thrillers that are story driven. Insidious: Chapter 3 is the prequel to the first two films (I know, 3 comes after 1 and 2; the titles irritates me, too) and chances are it will lack the true fear of the first movie, but still be pretty darn good. This movie is more of an origin story for Elise Rainier, the medium from the first two films, so the usual family and boogeymen will not be around. Instead, a new family is introduced, a widower and his teenage daughter who attempts to contact her deceased mother but reaches a demon instead. If I had a nickel for every time that happened to me… Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Leigh Whannell) return for this one, ensuring we will get some goofy comic relief amongst all the scares. The biggest factor this movie has going for it is the director, Leigh Whannell. He is a brilliant horror writer and is responsible for the entire Insidious series, Dead Silence, and the Saw movies – back when they were still good. Whannell has written before, but this will be his first time directing. I’m excited to see how he executes his vision now that he is the one behind the camera and the script, he’s really talented and I would bet Insidious: Chapter 3 will prove that. – Keriann

June 5 – Spy

Starring: Melissa McCarthy,  Jason Statham, Lude Law, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart, Bobby Cannavale, 50 Cent, Morena Baccarin,

When I first saw ads for this, I thought “Oh great. Another cheap humor spy movie,” but watching the trailer got me really excited for it. There’s no denying that this is a film made specifically to highlight Melissa McCarthy as an actress, but it’s definitely more than that. The humor is witty. The characters are strong, female leads. It doesn’t perpetuate the idea that only thin women are desirable or strong. I couldn’t be more excited to see this on the big screen. I’ll definitely be seeing this the day it comes out. – Charlotte

June 5 – Testament of Youth

Starring: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington (Jon Snow), Taron Egerton (Eggsy from Secret Service) Dominic West (McNulty), Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter)

There is absolutely no way that this movie will be able to live up to the past roles it’s comprised of. If only the actors in this movie played the roles we know them for and not the roles of a crappy British love story, I’d be all in. Kit Harrington does not look like a badass Crow any longer, and his 5’8″ frame is apparent for the first time. Anyway, Jon Snow falls in love with some girl, and then is sent to war. It’s all very sad and dramatic, and VERY British. Sappy romantics (especially those in love with Kit Harrington) may be suckered into seeing this one, but don’t expect your boyfriend to go with you. – Sherif

June 5 – Love and Mercy

Starring: John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti

The Beach Boys’ music has been a part of my life ever since my mom played me the Muppets version of “Kokomo,” but I know very little about their real life. In this biopic of Brian Wilson, we get an in-depth look at Wilson’s troubled life after the success of Beach Boys. The real life Wilson, who was not involved with the film, calls it “very factual.” Love and Mercy debuted at the Toronto Film Festival last year, but is making rounds in theaters this month. Dano and Cusack play a young and old Brian Wilson, respectively, showing his regression over the years. Ultimately, though, it’s about how his second wife (played by Banks) saved him from the grasp of his over-medicating and manipulative therapist (played by Giamatti). I feel like I’d rather watch a documentary. – Sherif

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June 12 – Jurassic World

Starring: Chris Pratt, Chris Pratt’s manliness, Bryce Dallas Howard (supposed to be MJ Watson in Amazing Spider-Man 3), Vincent D’Onofrio (Kingpin from Daredevil series), Omar Sy (Bishop in Days of Future Past), Judy Greer

Oh. My. GOD. I never thought this day would come; I really didn’t. I remember my best friend telling me in my senior year in high school that there would be a Jurassic Park 4 and this time it was about the underwater dinosaurs. I believed him, and I held onto that belief for years, telling anyone who would listen. After a while it was hard to tell if I was sharing news or just trying to convince myself, but I held on to hope and now here it is. The park is open. After all John Hammond tried to do, and all the fallout that came from his whimsy-driven mistake, Jurassic Park, the amusement destination is open and people come from all over to enjoy it. In fact, the park has become so popular that some people are bored, and in order to increase tourist traffic the bioengineers have created a hybrid dinosaur made up of DNA from the most terrifying carnivores. Needless to say, chaos ensues. Let’s get one thing out of the way: this film will not capture all the magic of the original; that would be impossible. But that does not mean this movie won’t be great, that doesn’t even mean it won’t be one of the best all year. It simply means that there so few movies in our history that have such magic, such impact, that nothing – no matter how great – will ever properly compare. Jurassic Park has been one of my obsessions all my life, don’t even get me started on what a dinosaur nerd I was and still am because of this film series. I am so completely and utterly excited for this movie. It has a lot going for it – a great cast (Chris Pratt FTf’nW), amazing visual effects, and more important than anything, a unique and new story we haven’t seen in the series before. While I loved all three previous movies, I’m aware that it was the same story over and over. People go to an island with dinosaurs, dinos remind humans how tasty they are. This time we get to see Hammond’s dream brought to life, and how the arrogance of man knows no bounds. I will be waiting in line to see Jurassic World on June 12, I suggest you do the same. – Keriann

June 12 – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Starring: Thomas Mann (Project X), Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel), Jon Bernthal (Shane from The Walking Dead), Nick Offerman (Parks & Rec), Molly Shannon (SNL), RJ Cyler, Connie Britton

As a huge fan of both film adaptations of books and honest stories about pain, I’m super excited for this. Of course, the comparison to The Fault in Our Stars can’t be ignored, but I think this will have a different feel than that film – similar, but different. TFIOS called out a lot of the bullshit people say and do when confronted with illness. It seems to me that this film will go into overdrive when it comes to that, and that’s great. Illness isn’t something mysterious and romantic. It hurts. People make it into something it’s not and that hurts even more. I’m glad Hollywood is finally starting to see that. – Charlotte

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June 19 – Inside Out

Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kating, Diane Lane, Mindy Kaling

I’ve been looking forward to this movie coming out for a while now. I think the premise is an intriguing concept and I’m interested in seeing how they tackle it. The emotions that are inside the character all have personality and play a role at the control center. Then we get to see how it’s reflected on the outside. I like the idea and I think there is a lot of potential for it to be the feel-good family movie of the summer.  Pixar does have a tendency to throw a curve ball and I’m looking forward to what they will do. On the other hand, the stereotypical gender roles already playing out in the preview is annoying. I hope the movie won’t be riff with them. Looking forward to sitting down with some popcorn and watching it. – Jené

June 19 – Dope

Starring: Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, Tony  Revolori, A$AP Rocky, Zoë Kravitz, Blake Anderson (Workaholics), Rick Fox, Tyga, Forrest Whitaker

I am so excited for this movie for so many reasons. One of the main reasons being how it’s nice to see a well-educated young black man who embodies so many different parts of black culture. Growing up with what Malcolm refers to as a “cliché life;” living in a poor neighborhood, in a single parent household, and no father around, Malcolm seeks to not let this life define him. Being in a punk band, being a 90’s hip-hop geek, and wanting to attend Harvard, he is taking steps to make his life better. So, although all the odds are against Malcolm, he still is smarter than yo ass. Oh, and did I mention this movie is a comedy. Malcolm, played by Shameike Moore, is a genius who has nearly perfect SAT scores and seeks to escape this cliché life. After Malcolm attends a local drug dealer’s birthday party for the sake of getting to known his crush a little better, he gets more than he bargains for after being set up and leaving with a backpack full of drugs. If Malcolm doesn’t get rid of these drugs it could mean his life. Do you know what happens after a drug dealer tells you to sell drugs and you refuse? Well, rumor has it that more times than not, the drug dealer wants to kill you, and that is exactly the situation. Just a typical weekend in the hood. – Evan

June 19 – Infinitely Polar Bear

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana,

If you’ve seen Mark Ruffalo act in anything other than The Avengers, then you know he’s pretty much a genius when it comes to playing deep, flawed characters. In Infinitely Polar Bear, he plays a father of two, Cam Stuart, with manic-depression trying to make it work with his wife (Saldana) and keep the family together. The story is narrated by Cam’s eldest daughter, Amelia, and is played by Imogene Wolodarsky, director of the film’s daughter. This works well because it’s essentially writer/director Maya Forbes’ auto-biography.

June 19 – The Overnight

Starring: Taylor Schilling (Piper from Orange is the New Black), Adam Scott (Parks & Rec), Jason Schwartzman (Bored to Death), Judith Godrèche

If being an adult means putting the kids to bed and engaging in wife-swapping with another couple late at night, then I’m going to Peter Pan this shit til I’m 90. First of all, “sex comedy” is a genre now. Second of all, I don’t see the comedy. I am usually the first one to jump at watching something that I know will make everyone else in the room really uncomfortable, then laughing my ass off to just accelerate the uncomfy feelings they all have, but The Overnight preview made me feel uncomfy. Anyway, Piper from OITNB is in it, as is Jason Schwartzman… so I guess those are plusses? – Adrian

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June 21 – Jaws: 40th Anniversary

Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary,

For those of you who have not seen the movie, Jaws originally came out in 1975 and tells the heartwarming story of a marine biologist who journeys to find the shark he assisted in raising at the first aquarium he worked at, which has now been released into the wild. If any of you readers believed that because you actually haven’t seen or heard of the movie I would likely to kindly ask that you vacate the planet and go back to whatever rock you’ve been living under. In reality, Jaws is THE monster movie. When it premiered in 1975, it changed the world – it changed everyone who saw it. Jaws struck such fear into audiences that most who saw it have never really recovered. Don’t believe me? I was raised watching this movie, as a little girl down in Florida I was afraid that Jaws could come through the floor of my house because I was close to the ocean and he could swim under the land just to get me. I have never been night swimming in any natural body of water, and I’m even afraid that Jaws will find his way into a swimming pool if I dare go there at night. Not only is this one of the scariest movies ever, but it boasts amazing performances from the entire cast – especially Robert Shaw, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Quint in the film. Jaws will be re-released into theaters this month for the 40th Anniversary and the best advice I can give any of you ever is to take advantage of that and go see it. This movie holds up so well, even after 40 years. It is still absolutely terrifying and the fact that I now have a chance to see it in theaters for the first time ever (considering it came out well before I was even born) is an incredible and humbling thing. This movie is an extremely significant part of cinematic history and  that we are all lucky enough to experience it on the big screen again is amazing. I don’t think there is a person in the world who shouldn’t take advantage of this opportunity. – Keriann

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June 26 – Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World

Starring: Batkid and friends

Talk about tugging at your heart strings! Batkid Begins is the feel-good documentary about Miles Scott, a child cancer survivor who asked the Make-A-Wish Foundation to make him Batman for a day. With the help of the City of San Francisco, Miles Scott transformed into the savior of the city. His story is pretty well known, but it would be interesting to see how the Make-A-Wish Foundation pulled off the feat. – Adrian

June 26 – Ted 2

Starring: Seth McFarlane, Mark Wahlberg, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Morgan Freeman, Patrick Warburton, Jessica Barth, John Slattery

I absolutely adore Ted. It’s brilliantly written humor that really understands the characters and their dynamic within the world being written in. However, I’m a little shaky on Ted 2. It could go one of two ways. It could either be a hilarious film with a resonant metaphor for human rights campaigns or it could fall into the “terrible sequel of an awesome movie” category. I hope the former. This film has potential. We’ll just have to see whether or not it lives up to it or not. – Charlotte

June 26 – Big Game

Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Felicity Huffman, Victor Garber

Oh god. Alright, I’m just going to say what we are all thinking about this movie. This looks extremely stupid, but don’t let that make you think I’m not going to go see it. With Samuel L. Jackson as President, Air Force One is shot out of the sky and he is ejected in what appears to be a NASA escape pod for his own safety. Once landed, he is found by a young boy, for some reason or another, is set on keeping him safe. Yeah, I know, I don’t get it either. As it turns out, this entire situation is a set up by one of Jackson’s personal men. Simply, I know, and we all saw it coming. If you are feeling somewhat blah about this movie, make a game out of it. What will occur more, the amount of times Jackson lives through something that should have killed him? Or how many times he says mother f*cker? As of right now, I’m taking all bets, because you know it’s not a Jackson movie if he doesn’t say mother f*cker. – Evan

Monthly Movie Preview: May 2015

April showers bring Mayflowers and smallpox! Or something like that… Last month had a few good films, but I challenge you to find time for all the amazing new movies released in May. Aside from the upper echelon movies like Avengers 2 and Mad Max, there are a handful of rom-com, action and thriller/horror titles to keep you indoors ALL. MONTH. LONG.

May 1 – The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Starring: Oh, like you don’t know…

I’m really on the fence with this one. I want to like it, I’m rooting for it, but chances are that it will be horrible. PSYCH! SERIOUSLY GUYS, HAVE YOU SEEN THE TRAILERS? THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO BE AMAZING! This time around the Avengers have to fight the villain Ultron, who was inadvertently created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Ultron is insanely powerful and recruits the extremely angst ridden siblings Pietro (Quicksilver) and Wanda (Scarlet Witch) Maximoff to work with him. It doesn’t matter how you look at it, this movie is going to be great. Joss Whedon is a freaking genius and he is working with an insanely talented group of people, this one can’t miss! There will be mind-blowing fight scenes and special effects, but there will be a strong and emotional story driving behind it all. I am giving you my own personal guarantee right now that you will love this movie. And you can take that to the bank. (I’ve always wanted to say that). – Keriann

May 1 – She’s Funny That Way

Starring: Owen Wilson, Imogen Potts, Rhys Ifans, Will Forte, Jennifer Aniston

Owen Wilson plays a director married to the star of the show, but accidentally calls his prostitute in for a stage call. In a Dreamworks cartoon, this is the moment a cartoon marmoset looks at the camera and says, “Awkwaaaaaaarrrrrrrrd.” Also Jennifer Aniston does stuff. A mechanic? Or psychiatrist? I don’t know. Phlebotomist? It could just as easily be the editing of the trailer to try to cash in on the There’s Something About Mary vibe, but I just can’t muster up any energy in my entire body to care about Jennifer Aniston or that other guy. You know the one. With the nose? Yeah. That’s the one. I am glad that Will Forte’s getting some biz. But, if you want truly satisfying Will Forte action, check you out some Clone High or Last Man on Earth. or the last few seasons of 30 Rock. – Montgomery

May 1 – Welcome to Me

Starring: Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini, Wes Bentley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Alan Tudyk, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack

Welcome to Me is the story of a woman who wins the lottery, immediately quits taking her psychiatric meds and buys a talk show for herself so she can talk about herself. I am so in love with the idea of this movie. It looks quirky and funny, but with a very real driving story about mental illness behind the comedy. The cast is an unbelievable mix of indie darlings, all of whom are pretty great at what they do. It really seems genuine and heartfelt, and like at a few times it will be hard to watch. Alice (Kristin Wiig) suffers from mental illness and Welcome to Me is her journey towards understanding herself and others. I’m calling it now, this will be one of the best and most underrated movies of 2015. – Keriann

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 May 8 – Hot Pursuit

Starring: Sofia Vergara, Reese Witherspoon

What’s hotter and more hilarious than a toaster going 6 rounds with Mike Tyson?  It might be the new Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara flick hitting theaters this May.  Then again it might not be.  Witherspoon portrays a police officer while Vergara is the trophy wife of a top tier Cartel leader.  Witherspoon’s character is charged with protecting the pretty, Hispanic drama-queen for witness testifying purposes.  The previews put a smile on my face, but not once did I find a laugh out loud moment.  And I’m EASILY brought to laughter, so this doesn’t bode well from my perspective.  Still… there are probably worse movies you could watch this month.  Then again… there are probably better ones too.  At the very least Hot Pursuit will give us an opportunity to see two pretty ladies getting into trouble!  That sounds fun!! – Taylor

May 8 – Skin Trade

Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Michael Kai White, Ron Perlman

As proud of Tony Jaa as I am for having mainstream exposure with last month’s Furious 7, it makes me a little sad that he’s getting more love by being in this trashy movie, where the entire time I watched the trailer, I was saying to myself, “when is Steven Segal going to pop up?” Sadly, he never showed, which means I don’t have the luxury of judging Skin Trade by the shitty standards you lower yourself to in a Segal film (but, I mean… is Dolph Lundgren any better?). Still, there’s hope for Skin Trade that resides with the nearly 40 year old’s Muy Thai machine, Tony Jaa. Michael Jai White could also prove a valuable asset when the fight scenes go down, but let’s face it – if there is anywhere near the amount of story and dialogue as there is murder and mayhem, then this will be a sad waste of time. – Sherif

May 8 – The D Train

Starring: Jack Black, James Marsden, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike White

Jack Black is usually guaranteed fun for me in whatever role he plays, but in recent years he has really shown some acting chops on top of his great scatting abilities, which I am sure we will see at least once in this film. This film focuses on Black trying to form a high school reunion, but no one will come until he finds out an old classmate is famous (James Marsden) and works on getting solely him to come because everyone else will follow. Ultimately, this looks like a film that you will either love or completely ignore, but in my case, seeing the chemistry between Black and Marsden  is enough for me to already be planning on seeing this one in theaters. – Jacob

May 8 – 5 Flights Up

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton, Cynthia Nixon (Miranda from Sex and the City), Alysia Reiner (“Fig” from OITNB)

I’m usually not one for romantic movies, but 5 Flights Up doesn’t look like your typical romantic mushy film. Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton play a couple who are trying to move out of Brooklyn, and realize that maybe they should stay put. When I write that down, it doesn’t sound that great, but there are some hilarious moments, some cutesy moments, and clearly a lot of love into making this movie. This one for date night for sure. – Adrian

May 8 – Hunting Elephants

Starring: Sasson Gabai, Moni Moshonov, Patrick Stewart

I hadn’t heard of this movie until very recently, but oh my Glob u gais, have you seen this trailer? Old bastards deciding it’s time they got what’s theirs by knocking over banks? I’m already in, because few things in life bring me joy like old people deciding to let their natural misanthropy shine through and do what they want. Happy birthday to the ground. Oh, and then it ALSO has Patrick Stewart? I think only holocaust denying 911 pedophiles wouldn’t see this movie. – Montgomery

May 8 – Maggie

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin (Valentine Wiggin from Ender’s Game), Joely Richardson, Laura Cayouette

Arnold in a zombie movie seems like a no-brainer to me and it isn’t just because zombies ate them. This film looks like an attempt to not only show us that Arnold is more than a gun-toting robot, that Abigail Breslin is an absolutely amazing young actress, and continues to improve on top of reinventing the zombie genre for film. The story revolves around Wade (Schwarzenegger) traversing through a world where the zombie virus has taken hold. To add on to that, his daughter Maggie (Breslin) was infected earlier, so Wade is trying to spend his last moment with his daughter or find a cure. This could end up being a very powerful film and one that may bring a reward or two to Arnold before he goes all T-800 on us again. – Jacob

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May 15 – Mad Max: Fury Road

Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult (Beast in X-Men: First Class), Zoe Kravitz

Mad Max: Fury Road is essentially a remake of the Mel Gibson classic, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. I can’t figure out why they decided to remake just the second movie in a trilogy though. Fury Road stars another handsome man from an island nation, Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises). Along with Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, and that model that replaced Megan Fox in the Transformers series, we’ll get to see possibly the longest car chase in any movie. This Mad Max looks like it will have a little more substance than the original, which is probably for the better. Filled with explosions, insane post-apocalyptic vehicles, and more Australian desert then you’ll ever need, Mad Max is sure to be a very thrilling two hours. The original trilogy’s director, George Miller, actually came back to write and direct this remake. I think the best thing about George Miller is he created one of the most over-the-top and violent and strange trilogies of all time and he also happened to write and direct Happy Feet and Babe: Pig in the City. How awesome is that? Go see Mad Max, I’m sure it will be lots of fun and maybe there will be a singing dancing animal. – Scott

May 15 – Pitch Perfect 2

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine (Workaholics), Anna Camp, Katey Sagal (Married… With Children)

Pitch Perfect 2 follows up with the Barden Bellas, but now they have fallen from grace and must enter an international singing competition to redeem themselves. Did I mention that this is a singing contest that no American group has ever won? Pitch Perfect 2 is one of the movies coming out this month that is most likely to please audiences. Not because it’s going to be fantastic, but because it follows likeable people in an underdog story, sprinkled with comedy and topped off with catchy songs. It’s not my cup of tea personally, but I’m sure this one will be fun and cute in its own way. This is one for the families and the feel good times, and if you loved Glee it should be right up your ally. I hated Glee, personally. – Keriann

May 15 – Good Kill

Starring: Ethan Hawke, January Jones, Zoe Kravitz, Bruce Greenwood

Yes! Now this is a war movie that needs to be made. With the amount of drone-induced casualties all over the world, I wonder how that must affect the psyche of the men doing it. These former pilots commute from regular life at home to kill targets oversees. That transition must be unbearable. Good Kill will give us a look at Thomas Egan (Hawke) and how he deals with the fallout. It’s not the same type of thrill as a Saving Private Ryan or Hurt Locker, but it’s a unique perspective for a war movie, and REAL enough of a situation that it begs audiences’ attention. – Sherif

May 15 – I’ll See You in My Dreams

Starring: Blythe Danner, Martin Starr, Sam Elliott, Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre II), Rhea Perlman (Cheers)

I never realized what a beauty Blythe Danner was at 72 years old. The previous Mrs. Focker plays a widowed Carol Peterson, looking for love, companionship and self-realization in this Sundance film. The movie also co-stars Martin Starr (Freaks & Geeks) and Sam Elliott (Thunderbolt Ross in Hulk), who help Carol find meaning to life after retirement. It’s a nice film to drop your parents off at while you watch Mad Max, but I think would be best suited for a Netflix night. Still, it’ll be a fun film that multiple generations can relate to, so if your widowed parent or grandparent want to take you, you go see it. – Sherif

May 15 – Area 51

Starring: Sandra Staggs, Suzie Lanier-Bramlett, Roy Abramsohn, Jelena Nik, Glenn Campbell

Area 51 is yet another found footage horror movie. It’s directed by the man who single handedly re-launched the found footage genre, Orin Peli (Paranormal Activity) but instead of being about ghosts (again) this one is about aliens. I like that this is finally not about ghosts, or poltergeists, or witches, or demons but I hate that it is found footage. Seriously, horror writers and directors of the world, can we PLEASE find a new medium? Anyhow, Area 51 is about a few young conspiracy theorists who come up with some ingenious ways to get past all of the security measures at the top secret base so they can break in and try to discover the truth behind the stories. Shortly after breaking in they encounter angry government officials, alien technology, and seemingly some actual extraterrestrials. And wouldn’t you know it, the aliens are mad and may or may not break free and start killing and abducting people. Personally, I think aliens are terrifying so I am drawn to this movie on that account alone. However, while aliens can be scary, there is a very thin line between horror and hokey with them as your monster. I like that this could end up being a sci-fi horror movie, but I realize the chances of this being a bust are higher than I’m comfortable with. This one is a crap shoot, it could be Dark Skies or it could be Slumber Party Alien Abduction. – Keriann

May 15 – Every Secret Thing

Starring: Diane Turner, Elizabeth Banks, Dakota Fanning, Nate Parker, Common

Two white girls kidnap a black baby. It seems like an odd concept, but this movie is bound to be an amazing psychological thriller. The two girls are sent to prison, and when they get it out, another baby is kidnapped. Elizabeth Banks plays the detective on the case, and she spends her time investigating the girls and their connection to the crime. The entire cast does a stellar job of acting. Common is barely recognizable, which is one reason I love him as an actor. The possibility of this movie touching on modern race relations is likely, and something America needs to be talking about. – Adrian

May 15 – Slow West

Starring: Kodi-Smit McPhee (Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse), Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn, Rory McCann (The Hound from GoT)

Think of this as Django without the racism. Or Tarantino… But there is a love story! Okay, so I guess it’s not that special. This Western adventure joins McPhee as he heads… West…slowly… and recover his lost love, Rose. Much like the Disney special Oliver & Company, he quickly finds out that he is not about that life. Michael Fassbender rescues him for seemingly no reason other than that he’s a good guy. Meanwhile, his lovely Rose and her father, The Hound, are running away from the $2,000 bounty on their head. I seem to have talked myself out of this movie by thinking about its plot. Don’t make the same mistake; if you like cowboys, love, and America, then this is for you. – Sherif

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May 22 – Tomorrowland

Starring: George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Tim McGraw, Keegan-Michael Key, Judy Greer,

It’s nice to see Disney isn’t left to just rehashing old material or stealing parts of my childhood. Tomorrowland is a teen sci-fi adventure film starring Britt Robinson (Under the Dome) and George Clooney (you know who George Clooney is). Robertson’s character, Casey Newman has a strange connection with Frank Walker, Clooney’s character. After recovering her belongings, when she is let out of jail, Casey seems to have a small item in her possession that she’s never seen before. When she touches it she is instantly transported to another world. Think of port keys from Harry Potter. Tomorrowland is a world where science conquers all other things and it is, seemingly, a utopia created by the smartest minds on the planet. This looks really good. If I had older children this would be a must see for me. Being a huge sci-fi fan it’s high enough on my list of things to see anyway. With Brad Bird (The Incredibles) directing there is a good chance Tomorrowland will be outstanding. – Scott

May 22 – Spy

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne (Neighbors), Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire), 50 Cent, Morena Baccarin (Firefly), Nia Long

If I ever lead a spy agency it would be deep in the belly of the earth where my agents would train with radioactive aardvarks while wearing shorty-shorts and singing my favorite Taylor Swift songs.  And my first recruit would definitely be Melissa McCarthy.  Paul Feig (writer/director for Spy) are on the same page.  Minus the aardvarks and T-Swizzle tunes.  That’s why I’ll definitely be checking out Spy this month.  The plot of this film puts McCarthy, a “pencil-pusher/desk jockey” CIA analyst in the field for a high priority covert mission that only she can pull off.  This is especially funny knowing that Jason Statham is providing mission backup.  I love McCarthy (have you seen The Heat?!?!) and the previews made me laugh.  This one is definitely on my list this month.  Look out Daniel Craig… McCarthy’s looking petty good in her spy gear! – Taylor

May 22 – Poltergeist

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Jared Harris, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jane Adams, Nicholas Braun,

In a world where everything is a damn remake, one of the scariest movies to come out in our lifetime (or before mine actually) is being remade for modern audiences. But don’t worry! The things that terrified us as children will be overblown and exploited just the way you like it. Full disclosure, when I found out this movie was being made I was outraged. The original Poltergeist is one of my favorite movies of all time. That being said, I must acknowledge that my inner nerd rage may just want me to hate this movie out of respect for the original. The thing is, the trailer for Poltergeist makes it look pretty good. And Sam Rockwell is amazing and can save just about anything. This movie has some positive points in its corner, and it’s likely that it might just invigorate the old story instead of ruin a classic. I will be seeing this one, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I don’t regret it. – Keriann

May 22 – Aloft

Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Oona Chaplin, Mélanie Laurent (Shoshanna in Inglorious Basterds)

Honestly, I had no idea what this movie was about after watching the trailer. Then I went to the Wikipedia page, which you are also welcome to do. Jennifer Connelly’s character abandons her son, played by Cillian Murphy, and becomes a successful artist. 20 years after he is abandoned, a journalist, Melanie Laurent, sets up a meeting between the mother and son. While I didn’t get that at all from the preview, I did think it was very pretty. Also, I am really interested in a movie with Sarah from Labryinth, Scarecrow from Batman Begins, and Shoshanna from Inglorious Basterds.

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May 29 – San Andreas

Starring: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Carlo Gugino, Colton Haynes (Roy Harper in Arrow), Kylie Minogue, Paul Giamatti

The Rock, in a movie about… rocks. Similar to 2012, this is a disaster movie showing how screwed we are. Well, how screwed the West Coast is, anyway. Named for the San Andreas fault (and sadly NOT for the Grand Theft Auto video game), Ray (Johnson) and his ex-wife Blake (Daddario) head to San Francisco, where all hell has broke loose, to rescue their daughter. Nothing at all about this sounds original or even fun to watch. There really isn’t much you can hate about a film starring the Rock, but that doesn’t mean you have to fork over $10-15 to see this crap in 3D, either. The only way I would go see this is if, when the ground split open, The Hellmouth was underneath San Francisco. Chances are, I’ll still be catching up on other good movies that came out throughout the month. – Sherif

May 29 – Aloha

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski (The Office), Danny McBride, Edi Gathegi (Darwin from X-Men: First Class), Bill Murray, Alex Baldwin, Jay Baruchel (How to Train Your Dragon)

If I had a scale of 1-10 on how interested I am in seeing a movie, then the Emma Stone offset is worth about 5 points, taking my interest in Aloha from a 2 to a 7. Bradley Cooper stars as Brian Gilcrest, a military defense contractor who falls in love with Allison Ng (Stone). BUT, he used to love Tracy (McAdams). Through coming home, Gilcrest will somehow find himself and connect with his heart, or some dumb crap. I don’t know if that’s how this movie really goes, but it’s how every stupid movie with a cheesy trailer like this one has goes. The only thing remotely interesting aside from Stone is the humor that Cooper will surely bring to the role (and a guest spot by BFM can’t hurt, either). – Sherif

May 29 – Results

Starring: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders (HIMYM), Kevin Corrigan (Grounded for Life), Giovanni Ribisi, Brooklyn Decker, Anthony Michael Hall

This movie looks pretty unremarkable. I think. It’s hard to tell. It looks like Kevin Corrigan plays a rich (white) guy who falls in love with a personal trainer, and her boss takes issue. Watching the trailer, there don’t seem to be too many standout moments. I feel like a comedy needs to have a few moments in the trailer that make me laugh for me to be on board. Plus, it’s hard to really feel interested in a sad rich guy being sadder because he’s not getting what he wants. But then it does have Professor Professorson (I think his family’s Dutch), or Kevin Corrigan as he’s actually named. I love that guys weird delivery and weird mannerisms, as if he’s someone practicing at what being human is like. Plus it has an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, so maybe they know something I don’t. – Montgomery

Monthly Movie Preview: April 2015

April brings warmer weather, and with the promise of summer also comes summer blockbusters. March had some solid independents and the taste of some sci-fi/action movies, but April is going to spice things up, as well.

April 3 – Furious7

Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, The Rock, Jason Statham, Jordana Brewster, Kurt Russell, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Ronda Roussey

The seventh installment of the racing movie franchise, or 7Fast 7Furious as we like to call it, has returned for another run. Get ready for terrible acting, beautiful women, ever more beautiful settings, and over-the-top stunts. Somehow, this movie has managed to one-up itself each time, and with the untimely death of Paul Walker, they will be looking to make this as big of a spectacle as possible. I think it will hit the mark for long-time fans of the franchise, but don’t go in expecting to be blown away by the plot. – Sherif

April 3 – Last Knights

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Clive Owen

This movie has a 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. That did not detour me from checking out the trailer, though! And typically, I like just about everything I see. I don’t know if it is Morgan Freeman being a bad guy, or his Fu Manchu beard, but I was thrown off from the beginning of the trailer. Then I hear that Clive Owen’s character is named Raiden. Raiden?! As in the God of Thunder and protector of the Earthrealm in Mortal Kombat?! And this is the very British Clive Owen’s character name, huh? That’s when an idea popped in my head; if this movie was made in Japan and subtitled in America, it would be the best movie of April. Alas, it is not. – Adrian

April 3 – Woman in Gold

Starring: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Katie Holmes

If you know me, and because you are reading this online the chances are you don’t (but that’s ok), you know that I will watch anything with Ryan Reynolds. So of course I wanted preview Woman in Gold. Despite Ryan Reynolds, this movie looks really good. Helen Mirren is absolutely hilarious as Maria Altmann, the niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer, subject of Gustav Klimt’s painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Reynolds plays her lawyer and together they sue the Austrian government for the ownership of the painting. Pairing the film with flashbacks, this looks like a great modern account of an old story. – Adrian

April 3 – Effie Gray

Starring: Emma Thompson, Dakota Fanning

Effie Gray was the teenage bride of famous British Art Critic John Ruskin. She became involved his protégé John Everette Millais. Does this sound like a book you read in your senior year high school class? After seeing the preview, I immediately thought, “This is Jane Eyre meets Ethan Frome meets The Awakening!” That all could because I like classic literature, but upon further investigation of the true story, Effie Gray fits right in with all these works. If you are uninterested in this movie, just think Unfaithful, but with better costumes. – Adrian

April 7 – Beyond the World of Interstellar

Starring: Chris & Jonathan Nolan, Kip Thorne, Hans Zimmer

Interstellar may not have racked up as many Academy Awards as it deserved, but it blew the minds of nerds all over. This was the best space movie of the decade, and there was actual science-based… science in there. Well, for one night only, AMC is bringing you Beyond the World of Interstellar and into the minds of the three creators who put it all together: Hans Zimmer on the sounds, Kip Thorne on the science, and Christopher Nolan on the storyline. While this feature is incredibly insightful, it takes an incredibly hardcore fan to pay money to go to a theater to watch it. I will just confine myself to the hours of bonus Blu-Ray footage. – Sherif

April 10 – Lost River

Starring: Christina Hendricks, Iain De Caestecker (Fitz from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Saoirse Ronan, Matt Smith, Eva Mendes, written/directed by Ryan Gosling

This film is written and directed by Ryan Gosling, so right off the bat you know there’s some weird stylistic decisions. It reminds a bit of A Place Beyond the Pines, and even reminiscent of Drive a bit, in tone. Nearby where the main characters live, there is a river of lost cities. That’s about all I gathered from the trailer. I’m sure artsy-fartsy people will have a field day with this movie, either defending or justifying its embarrassingly-low reviews. I, however, am almost convinced of the potential of the film just by the cast. Matt Smith channels his inner Edward Furlong from American History X here and De Caestecker is just as charismatic as in S.H.I.E.L.D. Feeling like a gamble? Go for it. – Sherif

April 10 – Kill Me Three Times

Starring: Simon Pegg, Teresa Palmer, Sullivan Stapleton, Alice Braga

You had me at “Simon Pegg,” but “Simon Pegg with a handlebar mustache” is just too good to pass up. This one’s got a little bit more edge to it than cult favorites like Hot Fuzz, but the same dry humor is there. A man hires Wolfe (Pegg) to murder his wife, but it turns out that several people are already tasked with killing her. It reminds me a lot of Smoking Aces but with more emphasis on comedy and story than action. It was released internationally last year and has gotten crappy reviews, but who cares about critical acclaim when you’re watching a Simon Pegg movie? – Sherif

April 10 – Ex Machina

Starring: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac

Artificial intelligence is not a game, okay?? And, dear God, why do these mad scientists always create these sexually-arousing FemBots?? They always become their own undoing… What starts out as an innocent and fascinating journey into the possibility of A.I. turns into a nightmare when the developer manipulates the program – and the tester. Lesson I got from the trailer: never trust the bearded guy with glasses. This marks the director debut of Alex Garland, whose work on 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Dredd and DmC: Devil May Cry proves that we knows a thing or two about sci-fi thrillers. – Sherif

April 17 – Child 44

Starring: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace (Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Joel Kinnaman (2014’s Robocop), Gary Oldman

Holy Moly! I think this movie looks fantastic. I am fascinated by Russian culture — I think it is one that Americans tend to sweep under the rug because of our history and The Cold War. Child 44 takes place in the 50’s, exactly during The Cold War. When a rash of child murders begins to happen, the police try to cover them up, saying that murder is a capitalist crime. Starring Tom Hardy, this movie looks part Thriller, part Mystery, and part really sad. I can’t wait! – Adrian

April 17 – Paul Blart Mall Cop 2

Starring: Kevin James, Neal McDonough, Daniella Alonso, Loni Love, D.B. Woodside

Somewhere far, far at the bottom of my list of movies that need or warrant a sequel… nope, Paul Blart: Mall Cop is not on that list. And that’s a list that includes Hitch and Hotel Transylvania (the latter of which, oddly enough, is getting a sequel). I really like Kevin James, and I think that King of Queens was the bee’s knees, but the first Mall Cop movie was barely palatable. Can we please send Hollywood a message and not go see this movie? I’m tired of the same crap over and over. I’ll hold my breath til Pixels comes out for a comedy worth my time (yeah, Ted 2, I see right through you, too). On a positive note, this move does have DB Woodside (Robin Wood from Buffy). – Sherif

April 17 – True Story

Starring: Jonah Hill, James Franco, Felicity Jones,

I never thought I would want so badly to see a serious film with James Franco and Jonah Hill. This terrifying thriller follows an ex New York Times reporter (Hill) who ends up involved in the life of a convicted killer (Franco). The killer seriously f***s with the reporter’s life and terror ensues. I don’t really know what else to day other than I wish I could watch it right now and that Sundance really liked it, too. – Adrian

April 20 – Friday: 20th Anniversary

Starring: Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, John Witherspoon

Oh, isn’t that quaint? The weed movie that started them all is coming back to theaters for a 20th anniversary showing. Bring plenty of munchies, because Friday isn’t just a stoner’s classic; it’s fun for the whole family. Invite your little brother, who was probably just a baby when the movie came out, and introduce him to the gateway drug of black comedies. Seriously, though, just watch it at home. It’s gotta be for free on YouTube somewhere (oh, there it is, but it won’t last long). I can’t say I’d enjoy watching this in theaters with a bunch of people who are ready to spark up, but it’s a classic movie worth your time. – Sherif

April 22 – Disney’s Monkey Kingdom

Starring: uh… monkeys?, narrated by Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi)

Monkeys! They are so cute! They look like us! I’m gushing! This Earth Day, Disney is releasing their newest adventure with real life animals. This time, we follow Mia and her son Kip on their move from one home to another. The filming looks absolutely incredible, the story heart-warming and probably tear-jerking, but most importantly, monkeys are adorable! Actually, most importantly, if you go see the movie the first week, Disney will donate money to Conservation International [http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx]. – Adrian

April 24 – Little Boy

Starring: Jacob Salvati, David Henrie, Kevin James, Emily Watson, Michael Rapaport, Tom Wilkinson

If this were 1995, Little Boy would be a HUGE hit. I don’t know how well it will do today, but I know that I would have loved this movie when I was a kid. Little Boy follows a boy who doesn’t grow, but he can make miracles happen, even after his dad is sent off to war. This is a period piece, so I don’t know how much it will resonate with modern kids, but for 20-somethings, this has Matilda written all over it. This may be a good movie to rent when the whole family is home. – Adrian

April 24 – The Age of Adaline

Starring: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Kathy Baker

Blake Lively never gets older! And she falls in love but then they do get older! It’s like a vampire movie without the gore, but isn’t the vampire gore concept what makes never aging interesting? Overall, I think this movie looks meh. While Lively is undoubtedly gorgeous, her acting has never grasped enough to go see a movie just for her. The writing looks a little too sappy, but I do imagine that the costumes from all the different periods would be fun to see from a design standpoint. – Adrian

April 24 – The Forger

Starring: John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Abigail Spencer

I never thought a movie about forging a painting would look so cool! John Travolta plays a convict who with his father and son, plan a heist to forge and then steal a Monet. There looks to be sex, violence, and lots a crime. A dash of art and family values and this could be the first Travolta movie I will see since 2010. – Adrian

April 24 – Brotherly Love

Starring: John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Abigail Spencer

Brotherly Love looks like Coach Carter, if Coach Carter never came to the school. That doesn’t mean this move looks bad! A group of young high school students get caught up in the game in Philly. There is no other way to describe it, but that storyline is very popular and won’t be going out of style anytime soon. Because this centers on a group of high schoolers, it is doubtful something too terrible, but someone is sure to die, and the rest of the kids will learn something because of it. – Adrian

Monthly Movie Preview: March 2015

The month of February had a few definite winners, but an overall quiet turnout. March kicks it up a notch with some highly-anticipated movies of all genres, a horde of the dam undead, as well as a few notable independents.

March 6 – Chappie

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver, Hugh Jackman

First of all, Sigourney Weaver looks like a total bitch in this movie. Second of all, if Chappie dies, I’m done. After District 9, a movie I went through an extra-large box of Kleenex while watching, I decided that Neill Blomkamp is pretty good at this job. When I saw the trailer for Chappie, I knew I had to see it. I have an obsession with robots, especially those will feelings. Watching the trailer alone gives me chills, especially when Chappie pretends to be He-Man. If you don’t tear up, you aren’t human…or should I say robot? Oh, and you better believe I’ll be seeing this THIS weekend. – Adrian

March 6 – Road Hard

Starring: Adam Carolla, Larry Miller, Jay Mohr, David Allen Grier

If 8 Mile was the psuedo-biography of Marshall Mathers’ life, then Road Hard is the story of Adam Carolla’s life. I remember watching Carolla on The Man Show with Jimmy Kimmel almost a decade ago, and thought he was hilarious. Well, what happens when the lights fade? What happens when all somebody knows how to do is make people laugh? This looks to be a depressing, but overall uplifting film. With guest spots from a slew of other actors that are still funny, but just have not been in the limelight recently. The film becomes available for digital download on the same day as its limited release, so it’s worth checking out. – Sherif

March 6 – Faults

Starring: Leland Orser, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gries, Lance Reddick, Beth Grant, Chris Ellis

While the beginning of this trailer had me laughing, but by the end I was rocking myself with my knees to my chest. It was a bad feeling. Honestly, I’m still rocking. It’s making typing very difficult. Faults follows an expert on cults and his attempt to deprogram a girl whose parents hire him to help their daughter. Things take a very scary turn when it turns out the girl can outsmart the expert. I am so terrified, but kinda want to see this movie. – Adrian

March 6 – Two Men in Town

Starring: Forest Whitaker, Harvey Keitel, Ellen Burstyn, and Luis Guzmán

I don’t know if it was the fact that Forest Whitaker is acting gold that sold me or the obvious fact this was filmed in New Mexico. But the plot looks really good, too. A remake of a French film of the same name, Two Men in Town, follows a criminal freshly released from prison. His attempt to be on the straight and narrow is put at stake when his old gang family tries to get him back and when a sheriff becomes obsessed with him. The update includes a lot of details for today’s day-in-age and some religious undertones. This indie is one for people who love crime dramas. – Adrian

March 13 – Cinderella

Starring: Lily James, Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Stellan Skarsgârd, Derek Jacobi, and Hayley Atwell.

While the marketing for this movie has been terrible, I am still excited for it. If you follow my works on Hush, you might think this strange. “But aren’t you a feminist, Adrian?” “Aren’t you the girl who doesn’t need saving?” Well, you would be right; however, Cinderella was my all-time kids movie. I learned how to work the VCR circa 1990 just for Cinderella. I watched it EVERY DAY between 1990 and 1992. I know all the songs. I love the dress. I love how elegant it all is. Sure, Cinderell-y gets saved by the Prince, but I still like it. Why is the marketing terrible for the live-action film, you may ask? Let me tell you: they showed the whole damn movie in the preview. I will still pay big bucks to see the movie because it reminds me of being a little girl wearing an apron and talking to my invisible Gus-Gus and Jacque, but I don’t know how anything will be different from what has already been previewed. – Adrian

March 13 – Run All Night

Starring: Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman, and Common

Liam Neeson is back!! He’s got a very particular set of skills. Skills he’s acquired over a long career. Skills that make him a nightmare for people like… Oh – hold on folks… I’m being told that despite appearances Run All Night is NOT the fourth installment of the Taken franchise. My mistake people! I guess what this movie is really about is how Jimmy Conlon (Neeson), in the act of saving his son by shooting the would-be-murderer, initiates a deadly manhunt at the behest of a powerful mob boss (who just so happens to be Jimmys’s long time buddy) leaving Jimmy and son no other choice than to “run all night” and escape. Hold on – gotta check something… Yep, just double confirming that this indeed is NOT the next Taken. Hard to believe, I know, but ‘tis true. Don’t stress though – this movie actually looks good. Ed Harris plays a role and he typically adds a lot to the screen. The plot feels promising and has potential for depth. And, best of all, it’ll have Neeson killing people with the grace of a swan gliding to a gentle halt on top of a glistening and peaceful lake… … of blood. It’s not Taken <aside to editor “you sure?!?”>, but it’s the next best thing. Go and get you some Hushters! – Taylor

March 13 – The Cobbler

Starring: Adam Sandler, Dan Stevens, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, Method Man

Wonder what it would be like to walk in somebody else’s shoes? After nearly a dozen failed blockbusters, I bet Adam Sandler does, too! As a cobbler – I had no idea that profession still existed – Simkin (Sandler) finds that he has the ability to actually become the people who inquire his services once he slips into their shoes. It’s a cute concept, and I’m more intrigued by the director, Thomas McCarthy, than by the all-star cast. McCarthy directed Paul Giamatti’s Win Win, and starred in Season 5 of The Wire (as the despicable writer, Scott Templeton). This film win wins if it can be profound and funny, without being cliché or cheesy. – Sherif

March 13 – Home Sweet Hell

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Katherine Heigl, Jordana Brewster, Kevin McKidd, and Jim Belushi

Maybe I’m sick. Maybe I’m twisted. Maybe I’m the only one who still liked Izzy Stevens in Grey’s Anatomy even after Katherine Heigl got too vocal. But this movie really sparks my interest. Katherine Heigl plays Mona, a type A uptight housewife who schedules sex. Her husband, Patrick Wilson as Don, has an affair with none other than Jordana Brewster and gets her pregnant. And that’s all the funny part. Mona finds out and proceeds to murder the mistress. This leads to having to murder a whole bunch of other people. And while this all doesn’t sound hilarious at all while I’m typing it, the preview makes it look hysterical. It’s like Dexter, but with more jokes! – Adrian

March 20 – The Gunman

Starring: Sean Penn, Idris Elba, Javier Bardem

I’m not sure how many times this concept has been done, but it’s surely OVER the recommended amount – most recently with John Wick. Retired spy/hitman/agent lives in peace, dealing with his “demons.” Something unrelated happens that requires said spies/hitmen/agents to be wiped out. Said “demons” become unleashed, and un-retired spy/hitman/agent unleashes hell on the organization he used to work for and two hours of cleaning house ensue… I may have just written the synopsis for 100 movies from the past two decades. Anyway, you throw Idris Elba in there and I’m pretty much a sucker for an Elba movie, but otherwise would dismiss this as another example of Hollywood redundancy. The movie is based off the 2002 noir novel, The Prone Gunman, by Jean-Patrick Manchette, so maybe there is something I’m missing. – Sherif

March 20 – Tracers

Starring: Taylor Lautner, Marie Avgeropoulos (The 100), Adam Rayner

This is basically Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Premium Rush with a lot more parkour. I’m not even sure why I added it to the list of movies, because I would rather sit through two hours of zombie beavers than watch this. While Taylor Lautner will no doubt attract whatever is left of the ravaged and ashamed group of Twilight followers, and it is intriguing that Lautner did most of his own stunts in this movie, the premise of the movie looks plain dumb. A group of hardcore parkour (hardkour?) enthusiasts decide to save Cam (Lautner) from a group of gangsters because they are impressed by his athleticism. I’m curious to see if anybody is about that hardkour lifestyle come March 20 – Sherif

March 20 – Zombeavers

Starring: Rachel Melvin, Cortney Palm, Lexi Atkins, Hutch Dano, and JOHN MAYER. That’s right, John Freaking Mayer is in this movie. The actual John Mayer.

Oh god dammit. This is the worst most stupid thing I’ve ever heard of. I’ve watched the trailer (don’t) and I’ve read the synopsis and that, ladies and gentlemen is where my relationship with this movie will end. Basically, a group of girls heads up to the woods for some partying and “hey let’s take off our clothes and make out with each other because apparently that’s what girls do” time. While being topless morons making out and hanging out on a dock, one of them disturbs a beaver dam that is full of rabid or undead beavers or some stupid shit, and they therefore unleash a plague of bloodthirsty beavers and gross puns upon society (I get it, beaver means vagina – ENOUGH ALREADY). I’ve never been one to shy away from a bad horror comedy, I love cheeseball and really crappy SFX and animatronics, but Zombeavers is a must miss for me. I think the female sexploitation thing has run its course and I choose to believe that most men can no longer be pandered to by the promise of topless bitches kissing each other. I’m sure the movie will have its moments, after all the beavers appear to be robotic puppets and I laughed out loud at them attacking a small dog because it looked so incredibly absurd, but in no way will those few moments of goofiness pay off for this disaster in its entirety. – Keriann

March 20 – Danny Collins

Starring: Al Pacino, Jennifer Garner, Annette Benning, Bobby Cannavale, and Christopher Plummer

Al Pacino is old! And so is his character, Danny Collins, in the upcoming film Danny Collins. Inspired by true events (about who, I don’t really know), this film explores the life of a famous song writer who rides stardom and recognition into his golden years when he finds a hand written and signed letter from legend, John Lennon. The praising letter was addressed to Danny decades ago and when he was a much younger man. Danny is struck with the realization that he’s a very different person than he was all those years ago and now is the time to get back in touch with that younger dude. This includes moving to a new town, finding love again, reconnecting with his abandoned daughter and (very buff and very angry) son-in-law, and writing music like it was 1200 B.C.!! I might have overshot that a bit… In any case Danny Collins looks like it will be a light-hearted feel-good flick. We all need one of those every once in a while. – Taylor

March 20 – Accidental Love

Starring: Jessica Beil, Jake Gyllenhaal, Catherine Keener, James Marsden, Tracy Morgan, James Brolin, Paul Reubens and Kirstie Alley

Accidental Love looks like a movie I would watch while sick in bed. That’s not a bad thing! I love independent goofy movies.. I just only seem to have time to watch them when I’m sick in bed. Jessica Biel and James Marsden fall in love, until Jessica Biel gets shot in the head with a nail gun. She does some pretty hilarious stuff, especially while at work as a roller skating waitress. This may be Biel’s most comedic role yet. The rest of the movie looks like a little bit of a commentary on health insurance and love. – Adrian

March 20 – Divergent: Insurgent

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Octavia Spencer, Jai Courtney, and Kate Winslet

Let’s talk about Divergent for a little bit. I read the book in the weeks leading up to the movie – a movie experience is always enhanced by reading the book first (side note – READ BOOKS!!). For me, the book was a bit slow, filled with too much teeny romance and the big “oh shit” moment felt incredibly forced. Greater appreciation aside, the movie was not much better. It wasn’t bad, just very forgettable. THEN… some months go by and the teaser for Insurgent drops. Did you see it?!?! I first saw it in theaters and once it was over I turned to my movie-buddy and said, “I think that teaser was better than the entire first movie.” I know little about the specifics of Insurgent and I’m going to opt out of the “enhance experience by reading book” option this time and let the film determine whether or not I should pick up the second and third novels. All released footage thus far hints that this sequel will be more action-packed than the last (a much easier sell for girls trying to get their guys to the theater). But action alone won’t save this series. I need less gushy romance and a more developed storyline. Improvements in these areas will get me back in the theater this month to check out Insurgent. – Taylor

March 27 – Get Hard

Starring: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Edwina Findley, Alison Brie, T.I.,

Two of comedy’s heavy hitters look to combine their powers in this slap-sticky movie about stereotypes and prison humor. If you’ve seen the Red Band trailer, then you know Get Hard will not be for the easily-offended. I haven’t been this excited for a comedy since Neighbors, which doesn’t really say much since I was only kind of excited about that… What I love about this movie, at least from the trailers, is how complementary Hart and Ferrell’s sense of humor are. Ferrell is so casual about his humor, and Hart is great at reacting to it. I also never thought I would see a movie with both Community‘s Alison Brie and rapper T.I. in it. – Sherif

March 27 – Home

Starring: Rihanna, Jim Parsons, Jennifer Lopez, Steve Martin, Matt Jones (Badger from Breaking Bad)

How did this lovable kid’s flick fly under the radar – especially with a cast this awesome?? Rihanna voices little Tip, a teenage girl who befriends Oh, an alien of the Boov race set to invade Earth. Oh is not well-liked among his own race, but befriends Tip and tries to stop the Boov invasion. The best part of this has to be that Oh is voiced by Big Bang Theory‘s Sheldon Cooper, already a believable alien. DreamWorks (same geniuses behind How to Train Your Dragon) have been working on this film since 2008, and I just heard about it a couple weeks ago. Unforgivable. If you have kids, you better go take them to see Home! – Sherif

March 27 – The Riot Club

Starring: Max Irons, Sam Caitlin, Douglas Booth, and Natalie Domer

Rich white boys who are sick of poor people. #FirstWorldProblems. So why am I intrigued by this film? It could be because of Sam Caitlin and Natalie Dormer. Or it could be because I don’t think this will be a cry-baby story about rich kids who want to do bad things. I think there could be a moral. Plus it’s British. It is already better than American things. –  Adrian

March 27 – While We’re Young

Starring: Ben Still, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried,  Ad-Rock from the Beastie Boys?

This growin’ up stuff is hard; even into your 30’s and 40’s, people struggle with the concept of adulthood and what it means to lead their lives. When boring couple Josh and Cornelia (Stiller and Watts) encounter a younger, happier couple in Jamie and Darby (Driver and Seyfried), there is a spark that causes an identity crisis in the older couple. Mid-life crisis or born-again metamorphosis? Either way, Ben Stiller always seems to do well in his dramatic roles (Walter Mitty), so I will happily see what kind of tortured soul he is playing now. – Sherif