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Anticipation (Before Trailer): 0/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 95/100

Before the Morgan trailer dropped today, I didn’t know anything of the project. Heck, I didn’t even know Ridley Scott had a son. The Scott family is already responsible for a number of films I love especially the late Tony Scott who would be Luke Scott’s uncle. Thanks to the pedigree, Scott’s directorial début has a loaded cast — Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Giamatti —  and a September 2nd release date.

Here’s a bold prediction: Morgan is the surprise hit of the year. The trailer is pitch perfect. Anya Taylor-Joy was incredible earlier this year in The Witch and the rest of the cast has a track record of strong performances. Out of nowhere, Morgan is the movie I’m most excited for this September.

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Hot Take: At least your typical, useless kid’s fare has a good message. The Angry Birds Movie promotes xenophobic beliefs, validation of the distrust of foreigners and the message that anger is sometimes the answer. Is this a kid’s movie or a Trump campaign ad?

On wonderfully colorful Bird Island, Red (Jason Sudeikis) is an outcast thanks to his big eyebrows and short temper. Everyone on Bird Island is blissfully happy except for Red. Even at his anger management class (the worst punishment by law on Bird Island), his contemporaries aren’t really angry as Chuck (Josh Gad) is speedily mischievous, Bomb (Danny McBride) is unpredictably explosive and Terence (Sean Penn), well, I don’t really know what Terence did to end up in anger management class other than grunt a lot.Read More →

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Hot Take: Neighbors 2 is dumb comedy. It’s almost as funny as the original and has a female twist. If you hated the first, you’ll probably really hate this.

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising not only delivers a satisfyingly funny sequel to the surprisingly hilarious hit of 2014 but also proves to have some social awareness along the way by introducing a sorority (instead of a fraternity) and occasionally exploring sexism and gender inequality. If you can look past the low hanging fruit of it’s humor, Neighbors 2 does a decent job of making a quasi-feminist statement in between mostly rehashed jokes from the original with the occasional gender bending twist.Read More →

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Hot Take: Every time A Bigger Splash feels like it’s going to go too far, it veers back on the path to a very interesting, artsy, adult erotic thriller. Very out of place for a summer release.

A Bigger Splash isn’t your typical film. In the first five minutes of this erotic, sensual, complicated mess, you realize this isn’t going to be a popcorn flick. Despite it’s indulgence, stylistic spectacle and beautiful backdrop, there’s a gritty, adult tale underneath. Read More →

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Anticipation (Before Trailer): 65/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 80/100

In his first post-Batffleck role, Ben Affleck plays a math wizard who spends more time with numbers than people. He works for a number of notorious criminal organizations and helps un-cook the books. The trailer sizzles with a solid supporting cast including J.K. Simmons and Anna Kendrick. Looks like Ben Affleck will be doing more than just Batman films for the next few years.

The Accountant releases on October 14th.

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Hot Take: A real popcorn flick with lots of energy and humor. The ’70s are captured perfectly. The slick, witty script is too convoluted to be truly great but damn if it isn’t entertaining.

The Nice Guys makes for a unique summer release. It has the feel of summer with it’s fast pace and slick dialogue and funny albeit ridiculous premise. The two seasoned actors — Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling — have excellent on-screen chemistry. It’s a buddy cop movie with a twist (neither are cops) and a few turns which is when The Nice Guys avoids becoming your standard summer affair. That’s a very good thing.Read More →

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Anticipation (Before Trailer): 90/100

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMfUjDnpfRY

Anticipation (After Trailer): 90/100

I’m in the minority because I didn’t hate the first trailer. I don’t hate this one either. Paul Feig writes comedy well, the original worked, so why is it so far-fetched that a female version of Ghostbusters will be good? Admittedly, the anticipation now is whether or not the reboot bombs but there’s still a ton of anticipation.

Ghostbusters ain’t afraid to hit theaters on July 15, 2016.

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Anticipation (Before Trailer): 10/100

Anticipation (After Trailer) : 25/100

Not sure what to make of Nerve. The concept is unique albeit a little bit spastic. Emma Roberts and Dave Franco have proven to be solid in supporting roles but can they carry a movie? For what it’s worth, Lionsgate has had a brutal 2016 (Norm of the North, Dirty Grandpa, The Choice, Gods of Egypt, The Perfect Match, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, Criminal and Compadres so far) so scoring even a modest success with Nerve would be huge.

Nerve comes to theaters September 16, 2016.

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Hot Take: Why would you make a biopic about a self-taught mathematical genius whose work is considered inspired, imagined and original by the numbers?

The true story of Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel), a poor Indian man who happens to be a self-taught mathematical genius, and his relationship with G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons) is interesting. It’s easy to see why someone thought this tale deserved it’s moment on the big screen. The Man Who Knew Infinity attempts to give the story it’s moment and does an adequate job of telling the story but lacks the imagination and originality spoken of regarding Ramanujan’s work. Instead, the tale is a measured, dutiful, paint by numbers biopic that informs but not much else.Read More →

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Anticipation (Before Trailer): 30/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 60/100

Was that a tiger? If The Neon Demon is anything like the trailer, it looks like it’s going to be strange. Guess we’ll have to wait until June 1st to see just how strange this is.