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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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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.

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 25/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 25/100

You could say Miracles From Heaven looks touching, inspirational, mystifying and inspirational… or you could say it looks manipulative and contrived. If anything, it looks like we’re entering the golden age of faith-based movies (that’s a quantitative statement not qualitative).

The most confusing thing about this trailer is how much is revealed in it. It doesn’t feel like there’s much to see after watching the preview. Guess we’ll find out in March 2016.

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Suffragette is an empowering, sobering tale that applies the appropriate gravity necessary to the Women’s Right to Vote movement. It occasionally has the feel of a docudrama a substitute teacher would throw on for her grade school class to get through a rainy afternoon.

How much screen time did Meryl Streep get in her role as Emelinne Pankhurst in Suffragette? If it was more than 3 minutes, I’d be shocked. However, in our backward world, that might be enough to land Streep a supporting actress nod at the upcoming Oscars. While her 3 minutes were well done, it’s hard to justify the likely hat tip for her contribution to this empowering story.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 90/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 90/100

The 2nd trailer for The Night Before is not quite as funny as the first trailer BUT there’s nothing in it to discourage my excitement for what looks like to be a ridiculously funny (or is it ridiculous but funny… or ridiculous and funny?) film.

The release date for The Night Before is right around the corner (November 20). Hallelujer!

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 60/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 65/100

While I’m not a “World of Warcraft” player, I’m still mildly intrigued by Warcraft. I’ve never played WOW but I’ve watched it being played more than I’d like to admit. That being said, I’m glad to see there were more than one scenes featuring unnecessary flying. If Warcraft wants to be true to the game it is based on, the movie will be 26 hours long and the main characters flying will happen for 20 of those 26 hours. We’ll see next June.

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 80/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 85/100

It looks like all of the main characters will be back in the sequel to Finding Nemo. In Finding Dory, the Pixar cash grab sequel will center around Dory and her attempt to find her family. With Pixar’s track record, it’s hard to dismiss anything they do as it is rare they miss the mark. Coming June ’16.

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Miss You Already proves passing the Bechdel Test and tugging at your emotions with a cancer storyline doesn’t guarantee a movie being passably entertaining.

After the first 60 minutes or so of Miss You Already, there’s a decent chance you won’t care about the characters you get to know. Neither Milly (Toni Collette) nor Jess (Drew Barrymore) come across as interesting, funny or mildly entertaining. By the time the film reaches the third act, the emotional investment might not be there to make the final 30 minutes as impactful as they might be if you cared for the characters. Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Great movie for kids. Good movie for fans of Peanuts who have wanted to see Charlie Brown and Snoopy’s greatest hits on the big screen after a 35 year hiatus. For everyone else? Eh.

The Peanuts Movie was an incredibly safe big screen take on the Peanuts franchise. As a viewer familiar with the past history of Charlie Brown but not particularly enamored with the characters, it was nice to see a new layer of paint put on the old reliable vehicle but it would have been nice to see it take a few risks. At it’s heart, The Peanuts Movie held true to it’s roots but after 70-plus years, there could have been a few modern updates to the material while keeping the heart in tact.Read More →