There’s just an informal “In Theaters” column this week as there is only one new wide release, and Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones in Just Getting Started is getting the kind of reviews that ensure that it never will. To recap, KT picked Coco and Justice League to stay #1 and #2 at the box office last weekend, and so they did, and so they shall again. James Franco’s The Disaster Artist did better in limited release than Episode VII did, but even in wide release this weekend is going to look the same as the previous two. Coco puts Disney on top three weeks in a row going into next week’s box office steamrolling by Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which should keep Disney on top at least another three. The mouse is ruling the box office until mid next-month.
Each Thursday we look at what is going to be coming out in theaters this weekend, show you the trailers for the big releases, predict the box office winner and just generally give you enough of a carrot to pull you through the rest of the work week. There are no wide releases this week, but studios will be expanding previous wide releases like Ladybird and Darkest Hour and those in larger markets will have three new limited releases to peruse this weekend. Continue reading In Theaters This Week (12/1/2017): The Shape of Water, The Disaster Artist, Wonder Wheel→
The Vault starts as a fairly typical bank robbery film until the bank manager (James Franco) insists that the real money is kept in the sub-basement vault, and opening that sends things pear-shaped for the robbers in short fashion. It’s an interesting twist on what separately are very tired tropes, but could be interesting if combined. Non sequitur: James Franco is in at least 10 movies a year. Does no one else realize this? Is he trying to win a contest? The Vault opens (heh, pun) on September 1, 2017.
Here’s my advice to you: if you’re going to go see Alien: Covenant in the theater and you have not watched Prometheus since it came out, you will be vastly better informed if you give yourself a refresher course. Now, if you hated Prometheus, that’s going to be a problem, because Alien: Covenant picks up 14 years after those events and the end of Prometheus spawns by far the most interesting parts of Covenant. The quick and dirty of my opinion on Covenant, because I am going to have to get into spoiler territory a bit, is that I think two episodes into Ridley Scott’s demystification of the origins of the xenomorphs have convinced me the entire endeavor is a mistake. Sometimes things become a lot less interesting the more you know about them (Wolverine’s origin should still be a mystery, for example). Prometheus was gorgeous, dreamed big, was massively flawed, but was admirable in its ambition. Covenant provides answers….eventually, but is criminally boring in getting to them with 75% of Prometheus‘ budget (no one will be calling this film “gorgeous”). It’s not Aliens 3 or Resurrection….but, honestly, it’s not even Prometheus. Continue reading Movie Review: Alien Covenant (2017) “Some Things Should Remain a Mystery”→
I was not hugely impressed by the first Alien: Covenant trailer, and I thought Prometheus was a beautiful mess, so it’s a relief that the second trailer for the sixth film in the ALIEN saga (not counting AvPs) looks like a massive improvement. We all know going to the xenomorphs homeworld is going to end even more badly than going to the builders’ homeworld did in Prometheus. The only question is are qetting the Ridley Scott who knocked The Martian out of the park or are we getting his doppleganger who made movies under his name for ten years before that? Refreshingly a movie not in March, Alien: Covenant is sandwiched in-between Guardians 2 and Pirates 5 in mid-May 2017. Continue reading Trailer Time: Alien Covenant Trailer #2 (2017) “Paying the Xenomorphs a Visit”→
