Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 60/100
Love the cast! The trailer has some humorous moments. But there’s that pesky February release date. Even though it wasn’t a comedy, for some reason Hail, Caesar! is eerily reminiscent of 2014’s The Monuments Men. Movies with this kind of cache that release in February rarely hit. Let’s hope this one proves the tendencies wrong.
Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 75/100
After seeing the trailer for Triple 9, the only concern I have is the release date. Good movies don’t get released in February. Look at the cast here: Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Teresa Palmer (who possibly might be in every movie in February 2016). Something’s off when it comes to the release date. Think Focus with Will Smith.
There was a time Triple 9 was slated for a fall release but then it was moved to March (a slightly more promising month for movie releases) and then moved to February which isn’t as bad as January but still pretty bad unless it’s a Valentine’s Day release.
All things considered, Triple 9 still looks kick ass so I’ll start getting prepared for the disappointment now.
Anticipation (Before Trailer): 20/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 40/100
The Forest warns “stay on the path.” For movie goers, staying on the path includes tempering any excitement for a January release.
So, even though The Forest is the feature-length directorial début of Jason Zada who launched a highly successful viral marketing campaign for OfficeMax (“Elf Yourself”) and the acting talents of Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) and Taylor Kinney (Zero Dark Thirty), don’t get your hopes up.
Also, for what it’s worth, horror trailers that have a habit of revealing too much often fall short. The Forest does boast a solid trailer, a “true” back story (Aokigahara Forest is a real place in Japan where people go to commit suicide) and the backing of a re-tooled Gramercy Pictures. Maybe, just maybe, The Forest can break the “dump month” mold.
Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 50/100
The Choice is your standard Nicholas Sparks novel-to-movie Valentine’s Day date release. And the trailer does nothing to prove otherwise. Not that there’s anything wrong with it but it is what it is.
Anticipation (Before Trailer): 40/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 48/100
The Angry Birds trailer does about as much for a movie about a mobile phone app as possible. There’s a number of funny actors lending their voice to this film. So, there’s that. Maybe it won’t be that pointless.
Personally, I’m more excited for Words With Friends: The Movie.
Anticipation (After International First Look): 45/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 45/100
The concept of this alien invasion YA thriller is fleshed out here. Watching the official trailer, I already feel like The 5th Wave will drag it’s way through this somewhat interesting idea. I’ll be curious to see how much time The 5th Wave spends on the 1st through 4th waves.
Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 80/100
Any live action creation of an animated feature brings skepticism. The Jungle Book looks made for the theater and visually impressive. There will be plenty of internet nonsense about the “crappy CGI” but that’s pretty much every CGI-heavy film ever.
See you in 2016!
Anticipation (Before Trailer): 30/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 40/100
Colonia wasn’t on the radar before seeing the trailer. Emma Watson is one of the many Harry Potter stars worthy of a post-Potter flyer. However, Colonia doesn’t feel like the vehicle.
Maybe I’m wrong but a January release date doesn’t bode well either. Sorry Hermione.
Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 75/100
After Southpaw, Jake Gyllenhaal is forever changed for me. Southpaw might be the most underrated movie of 2015. Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan before it and I’m not sure I’m a fan after BUT he was phenomenal in it.
Fast forward to next April when Demolition comes out. This won’t be Gyllenhaal’s follow-up to Southpaw (that will be Everest which will be welcomed critically and I will most likely hate it because I have an odd aversion to films with a lot of snow in them) but it’s so different than his Southpaw role, I think the next preview will put me over the top.
Also of note is director Jean-Marc Valle who is on fire following Dallas Buyers Club and Wild. Plus, Chris Cooper is the ultimate movie condiment. The only caveat is the April release date.
Anticipation (Before Trailer): 30/100
Anticipation (After Trailer): 45/100
The anticipation for The 5th Wave would be much higher if it wasn’t being released in Hollywood’s dump month. January films are typically bad. Very bad. To be fair, the most excited I’ll ever get about a movie coming out in January is maybe 50. Maybe.
Chloe Grace Moretz looks to be one of the last hopes for humanity in this post-apocalyptic alien invasion flick. Moretz may save humanity but nothing will save January. Nothing.
(Writer’s Note: Don’t take it personal but we’ll all be seeing Star Wars for the 5th or 6th time anyway.)