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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: If you loved This Is The End, you’ll enjoy but probably not love The Night Before.

If I ever get back to ranking 2013 movies, I’m pretty sure This Is The End will come in at the top of my list. It was one of the funniest movies of the last decade. Fortunately (and unfortunately), The Night Before has a similar feel. While it was a very funny holiday movie, the comparisons and the way too revealing trailers for the film stole away some of the better moments and made it feel like a regifted tale.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 40/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 50/100

Moonwalkers has the three most damaging words attached to it: “Coming in January.” Outside of that, it looks like it could be a lot of fun. Rupert Grint hasn’t done much since Harry Potter which adds to the intrigue. Ron Perlman is also some interesting casting. We’ll see if Moonwalkers can dodge the January kiss of death.

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Hot Take: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! The 33 is a good rescue spoiled. You feel all 69 days of the 33 miners trapped in a well in Chile. Every single one of them!

There’s a story worth telling about the 33 miners trapped in a Chilean mine in 2010 for over two months. The 33 doesn’t bother to tell it, unfortunately. But there’s definitely a story there. You’ll see it buried under the two hour feel-good, crowd-pleaser that often feels more like root canal than a rescue.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: It’s hard to pull off movies with multiple, intertwining storylines as so many things can go wrong. Sometimes, Love the Coopers gets things wrong but gets plenty right to deliver an entertaining, adequate kick-off to the holiday movie season.

As I settled in to watch Love the Coopers, I was armed and ready to blast the movie through some snarky live tweets during the viewing. However, as Steve Martin began the narration, I was completely disarmed by such great casting, I was shaken in to accepting Love the Coopers as something watchable. By the time the disposable storyline involving Ed Helms’ character was introduced, I was already willing to forgive a miss or two.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 40/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 35/100

It appears as if Ice Cube and Kevin Hart are treating the cinema as an ATM in January. Ride Along 2 is a cash grab doubling down on the huge success of the original which pulled in $154 million at the domestic box office.

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 35/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 45/100

Does anybody else believe if this movie were any good, we’d be seeing it before the ball drops? Another “incredibly true” story featuring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck and movie poison Eric Bana.

The Finest Hours has a very The Perfect Storm feel but 40 years prior and replace fishermen with the Coast Guard. However, the film is slated for January 29, 2016 and, as mentioned before, the January release is a kiss of death.

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 60/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 75/100

The sequel to the live action version of Alice In Wonderland has a slightly different look and feel which might be due to the change in director with James Bobin stepping into the rather large and unusual shoes of Tim Burton. The trailer for Alice Through the Looking Glass must have been made by the same team who made the trailer for the live action version of The Jungle Book as there are considerable similarities.

Bobin was the writer and director of Da Ali G Show so it’s no surprise to see Sacha Baron Cohen to the cast. The movie tick tocks it’s way into theaters on May 27, 2016.

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 65/100

Call me crazy but there’s something intriguing about everything Katie Holmes does. Touched With Fire looks like a compelling view of mental illness. The score of the trailer adds to the intrigue as it feels like it does everything right. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this SXSW film festival favorite only make it to limited release on March 15, 2016 as the subject matter is primed for the art house.

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In: 2015, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 65/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 70/100

Begrudgingly, the trailers for Concussion are winning me over. There’s still a little too much NFL in the preview with logos and the feeling of there being “express written consent” of the league that owns a day of a week (and a night and Thanksgiving and a day in late January/February and rents Thursdays sometimes).

If anything Will Smith’s performance looks like it could be one of his best and the scenes of Pittsburgh in the preview capture the picturesque cityscapes of the Steel city. Looks like Christmas is the release date for Concussion.

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 10/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 50/100

I hate to admit it but the sequel to the 2002 smash hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding (surprisingly called My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2) looks solid. Nia Vardalos and John Corbett reunite with the entire cast to try and capture lightning in a bottle again. Usually, sequels pale in comparison to their predecessor but maybe this one will surprise.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 hit theaters March 25, 2016.