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In: 2015, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 20/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 30/100

A creepy movie starring Nicholas Cage as a professor who searches for his son after he disappears during a Halloween parade, Pay the Ghost looks to be an instantly terrifying then suddenly forgettable fall flick.

There hasn’t been a Nicholas Cage movie in recent memory I would consider anything more than average. For most, it would probably be National Treasure. For me, it’s been since 2000 (Gone in Sixty Seconds) and that’s pushing it. Considering he was the hottest thing going in the late 90s (Leaving Las Vegas, The Rock, Con Air, City of Angels, Face/Off), Cage has had one hell of a drop-off. No reason to expect this to be his return to prominence.

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In: 2015, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 65/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 65/100

While the cast of Concussion looks impressive (from Will Smith to Albert Brooks and everyone in between), there’s something about the trailer’s attempt to make the NFL seem more like a rogue government agency motivated to stop Dr. Bennet Omalu (played by Smith) and his study of head injuries and the effects of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Not that the NFL isn’t capable but it all seems a bit Hollywood.

It’ll be interesting to see how Concussion performs in what looks to be an extremely crowded and promising Christmas movie season.

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In: 2014, Hot Take

Hot Take: Believe this report… See this movie. (It does the best it can with a two hour feature length limitation.)

Ever watch a good movie late at night and not be able to keep your eyes open? Despite your best efforts, you doze off a few times and miss a few key scenes which keeps this probably great movie from being great just because you kept falling asleep.

This is the best description of how it felt to watch Kill the Messenger I can give. Throughout this roughly 2 hour “based on a true story” drama, the gaps in the story telling which steamroll the audience through journalist Gary Webb’s investigation and subsequent series of articles identifying the CIA as a catalyst for the crack cocaine boom of the late 1980s are frequent and frustrating in an otherwise compelling film. Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Care about plot, dialogue and social issues? If so, move along, there’s nothing to see here. Care about stoking your inner xenophobe, being terrified, capitalizing on the most basic stereotypes and satisfying your thirst for blood and violence? Step right up! No Escape is the movie for you!

As harsh as this sounds, John Erick Dowdle and brother Drew would have to borrow a shit to give one about the plot of No Escape. Before the movie dives into the deep end of graphic violence and realistic terroristic mayhem (which it does jarringly fast), No Escape spends roughly two minutes developing the storyline which provides the backdrop for an adrenaline rush of a thriller which borders on realistic horror.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: A mirror image of Electronic Dance Music, if you can’t tolerate EDM, you probably won’t tolerate #WAYF. If you can, We Are Your Friends might win you over.

Give We Are Your Friends credit for its’ ability to mimic the style of EDM with its pace, timing and sampling. Or maybe not. Because sometimes it feels as if this was as accidental as DJ Cole Carter’s epiphanies on his way to finding his “voice” (does one have a voice in EDM?) in the world of EDM.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 25 out of 100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 30 out of 100

Why do trailers sell movies by mentioning movies you might not possibly like? The trailer for Love the Coopers seems fairly generic. Then it happens:

“From the producers of The Family Stone” flashes on the screen. Really? You’re telling me I want to see this holiday movie by mentioning another crappy holiday movie. I’ll pass. Probably. (OK, I saw Fantastic Four so you know I’ll watch almost anything.)

Side note: Ed Helms doesn’t help either.

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In: 2015, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50 out of 100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 50 out of 100

Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel and Rachel Weisz are enough to get me somewhat interested. Overall, Youth looks like your standard film festival buzzworthy movie that’s probably halfway decent.

The December release hints at Oscar-worthy buzz (at the very least, someone in the cast might land themselves a nomination) but time will tell. The trailer doesn’t bowl you over.

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In: 2015, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 0 out of 100

 

Anticipation (After Trailer): 55 out of 100

Admittedly, Kill Your Friends was not on the radar prior to seeing this trailer. Now, Patrick Bateman vs. the Record Industry looks somewhat intriguing.

The preview threw in a subtle Spice Girls reference so now all I can imagine is Nicholas Hoult’s psychotic main character wiping out the mock up of the Britpop sensations. Hoult was on point in Mad Max: Fury Road so maybe 55/100 is a little low for this British cousin of American Psycho.

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Sure, alone we can’t stop Hollywood from turning out Fantastic Four films but together, if we all stop going, maybe we can make it go away forever.

The most stunning thing about Fantastic Four is it’s 21% “Liked It” score on Rotten Tomatoes. We rarely see TV movies anymore and has there ever been a superhero TV movie? Well, this could have been a TV movie. A very bad, boring, dull, brooding, lifeless, soulless TV movie. Read More →