Hello all and welcome to your monthly edition of Coming Soon. Jordan from Rath's Reviews here again, ready to give a recap of August and a glance at what's coming in September.
Fantastic Four: Yeah...it was basically about as bad as everyone expected it would be. It started off strong-ish, but got worse the further it went. Utterly forgettable, a waste of a stellar cast, and Trank's directing career might be finished given his odd behavior behind set. (Rath's Review Score: 4.5/10)
The Gift: Edgerton's debut directing gig was a sleek, creepy thriller that captivated. It wasn't a classic by any means, but still mightily impressive. RRS: 8/10
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: Many didn't really enjoy this one all that much but I had an absolute ball with it. The Year of the Spy continued strongly with a fun, older-generation take on the genre that looked great. RRS: 8/10
Straight Outta Compton: A musical biopic for the ages. Tells a great story, with even better performances, and a great soundtrack. Very little to critique here. RRS: 9/10
American Ultra: I really disliked this film and I don't think it worked on any level other than a couple cool scenes here and there. Completely forgettable. RRS: 4/10
Hitman: Agent 47: First film of the month I skipped. Critics stated that it had lame action, poor CGI, and was "stupid" while gamers questioned how the hell it related to the game series at all.
Sinister 2: Surprisingly horrible from the batch of reviews I read. It relies on jump scares and has very little else worth noting including, but not limited to, script, pacing, resolution, etc.
We Are Your Friends: It's shallow and hollow, much like the music it tells its story about. But there was something so undeniably fun, cool, and mesmerizing about it that I found it to be a quick guilty pleasure and a solid way to close out the summer. Not to mention one of the best soundtracks of the year. RRS 8/10
Most Disappointing: American Ultra
Most Surprising: The Gift and We Are Your Friends
Worst Movie: Really a toss up between F4 and American Ultra
Best Movie: Straight Outta Compton
Let's check out a somewhat mellow September. Remember to click the titles for the trailers!
Why It's Worth Seeing: The previous three Transporter films, while not Hollywood's best, were fun diversions and gave us Jason Statham. Could the new film be the birth of a whole new star?
What Could Go Wrong: Likely not. The Transporter films were as good as they were mainly because of Statham. Now that he's gone, I think this one will have little to offer and be DOA.
Why It's Worth Seeing: Director M Night Shamallamadingdong heads back to the realm that made him a household name: horror. Could this be his magnificent great return after years of being one of Hollywood's worst?
What Could Go Wrong: Not sure why I'm using so many rhetorical questions in this post, but likely not. Even his last few horror films were crappy, and the trailers don't do much to make me believe otherwise here.
Why It's Worth Seeing: The cast is one of the year's best, and Johnny Depp looks to be playing one of his most defining characters ever as an evil, powerful gangster. The story also looks incredibly interesting.
What Could Go Wrong: Other than a forgettable script or some bad pacing, I don't see much going wrong with this one. It looks like a hit.
Why It's Worth Seeing: Again, another stellar cast headlines this one and it looks to tell an emotional and captivating true story about one group's trek up the mountain.
What Could Go Wrong: Something in the trailers seems off to me. Aside from some wonky CGI, it looks utterly predictable and forgettable. Hopefully it can distinguish itself from other climbing films.
Why It's Worth Seeing: The book itself is probably the strongest in the series, and the first film was surprisingly solid, rivaling The Hunger Games in overall quality. As long as the film sticks to the book, including some of the more shocking moments, it should be just as good as the first, maybe even better.
What Could Go Wrong: A merging of the second and third book could get messy and I believe there was a change of director. Sometimes that transition can prove to be troublesome.
Why It's Worth Seeing: It comes from a strong director, has a great cast, phenomenal cinematographer, and tells a riveting story about the Mexican cartel. Need I say more?
What Could Go Wrong: Again, I'd say this is pretty much a sure fire hit. That being said, how dumb is Hollywood to release 4 huge films on one Friday? It's not like it's an exactly crowded month.
Why It's Worth Seeing: I like the premise and it looks like a cute film that merges both new and old generations.
What Could Go Wrong: Despite its charm, it seems like a forgettable film once you leave the theater. I'm not sure it has much unique to say or will leave a lasting impression.
Must See (in order): Sicario, Black Mass, The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials
On My Radar: Everest, The Intern
Predicted Duds: The Transporter Refueled, The Visit
Hope you folks enjoyed the summer as we now approach Oscar season! As
always, I'd be really appreciative if you came and followed me through
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I really hope Black Mass is a hit and Depp gets high praise! Always been a fan of him and hopefully one day he gets a Lifetime Oscar Award for his diverse roles.
ReplyDeleteI think Black Mass will definitely be a hit. Surely looks like a great role for Depp.
DeleteHahaha, my dad calls Shyamalan "Shyamalanamadingdong" too. :P That looks like basically the worst movie ever. I'm not a fan of horror movies though, so I'm biased.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in Black Mass and Sicario mainly for the cast. Emily Blunt. Nuff said. Also hoping The Intern will be a nice cute movie. I don't even really care if it's forgettable afterwards!
The Scorch Trials though! So excited for this. It's really looking great too, I would be surprised at all if it's even better than the first one! What do you mean about them merging the second and third book though? And it is actually the same director -- Wes Ball.
Agreed on Emily Blunt.
DeleteI find that with these YA adaptations they often will try to blend the books into each other, often for storytelling purposes. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I wasn't the biggest fan of MR book 3, so I hope it's left alone, at least until they make that film. Good to know it's the same director! That's awesome and good news. I shoulda done a quick Google search ;-)
Ah, okay, I see. I agree, that's not necessary. They should stick to the book as much as they can!
DeleteUhg, the first time I saw the trailer for The Visit was while I was trying to watching something really cute and it popped up as an add. Worst time to see a horror trailer LOL
ReplyDeleteBlack Mass looks great; Johnny Depp is a chameleon, I barely recognized him!
Agreed Jamie!
DeleteThe only one I want to see is "The Intern." But that's okay -- I've got "The Man from UNCLE" to keep me occupied :-)
ReplyDelete