July 2014 Film Preview

Summer is in full swing and more blockbusters are set to be released. There are also some interesting smaller films. Most of my information comes from RottenTomatoes or imdb.com. If you're going to see a film, do a little research first. It's a good habit to get into, it can save you a few dollars and keep you from losing two hours of your life that you won't be getting back.

July 2nd

• Tammy: Melissa McCarthy wrote the screenplay and stars as the title character in this highly predictable comedy that also stars Kathy Bates and Susan Sarandon. Tammy loses her job at a fast food restaurant and for whatever reason brings her grandmother (Sarandon) on a road trip. Hi jinx ensue. There's not a whole lot of originality in this one. McCarthy has a scene where she sings along with an 80s hit while driving (Identity Thief), she hits an animal with a car and the animal gets even (Tommy Boy & Me, Myself & Irene) and then there's the deviant grandmother trope. McCarthy's character seems like a an amalgamation of s few of her past characters, so at least she's on familiar ground.
• Earth to Echo: Some diverse, nerdy teens come across a friendly alien. Family film.
• Deliver Us From Evil: Eric Bana plays a hardened NYC cop who doesn't believe in the supernatural. Until weird shit starts to happen to him and his family. Veteran creepy movie director  Scott Derrickson is at the helm and he's got a good history with this sort of film. There's a little of a Se7en feel since it's always dark in the trailer. It looks gritty and dark but as with most scary films, pay attention to the buzz as the opening approaches. These can have a tendency to be a dime a dozen so exercise caution.
• School Dance: Nick Canon writes and directs this homage to 80's high school films cliches & tropes. With a cast filled with funny people like Mike Epps and Kat Williams, there's no shortages of jokes that stopped being funny in the Clinton administration. Bobb'e Johnson wants to join the coolest clique in school and all he has to do is get the panties of the hottest chick in school (sound familiar?). 
• Premature: How to explain this travesty. In the trailer there's a review that says "Groundhog Day meets American Pie." Dorky high school kid has a crush on the hottest chick in school (who is clearly not a teenager) on the same day he interviews for admission into Georgetown. He repeats the same day until he "gets it right." That means nail the interview and the love of life. Who by the way is so hot she would be dating college guys in real life. Weird because I was under the impression that the title had something to do ejaculation but I could only stomach about half of the 2 minute trailer.

Faced with a life or death decision of having to see either School Dance or Premature would be a tough call. School Dance does have a potentially funnier cast (actual stand-up comics) but it has dancing. The cool clique Bobb'e's character wants to join, is a group of modern urban dancers (only way I know how to describe it as I'm a caucasian in my 40s). In Premature it's a less culturally diverse cast with an unbelievably non-original plot. Death could be the way to go.

July 4th

This being the huge holiday of the summer there isn't a whole lot here. Martin Scorsese executive produces Life Itself, a documentary about legendary film critic Roger Ebert. Then there's Beyond the Edge, a pseudo documentary/re-enactment of Sir Edmund Hilary's ascent up Mount Everest. 

July 11th

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Sequel to 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Caesar and his intelligent apes have taken refuge in the forest by the Golden Gate Bridge and their community is thriving while the virus massacres the human population. The apes and humans try to coexist but we humans being the bitter, vengeful jerks that we are, aren't having it. Caesar continues to evolve and has juicier dialogue in this installment. Trailer looks cool and I liked Rise so I will be checking this one out.
• Boyhood: Richard Linklater directs this family drama that traces the life of Mason from age 5 to 18. Mason's parents (Ethan Hawke & Patricia Arquette) are divorced and do their best to raise him and bestow upon him life's lessons. He probably falls in love too. Linklater has a history of directing poignant films about life. This will most likely get a small release and it looks like a nice change. Worth a look.
• A Long Way Down: Three Brits (Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette and Imogen Poots) and one American (Aaron Paul) find themselves on a rooftop in London all looking to end their lives. While on the roof they group opts not to kill themselves and they actually convince each to go back to live their lives. Things get a little weird when the media catches wind and the group gets famous. The film is based on a book by Nick Hornby, who's works have made some good films (High Fidelity, About a Boy) so this could be worth seeing. 
• Rage: Heavy drama starring Nicolas Cage as a parent concerned about the disappearance of his teenage daughter and how the police are handling the investigation. No wait, Cage is a reformed ex-con who's daughter is kidnapped over something he did years ago. Cage tries to let the cops handle it but he gets is old crew together to bring her back. There's a lot of seedy guys getting beat up, explosions and firefights. If the premise sounds familiar get yourself a cookie. This is more suitable for Redbox or HBO.
• Made in America: Jay-Z concert film/documentary.
• Honour: British thriller about a young Muslim girl who is on the run from her family because of an insult. The girl, Aiysha Hart, has shamed her family and they have to kill her in order to save face. An "honour killing." Tough subject matter that has been covered on shows like Law & Order: SVU but probably not as graphic. 

July 18th

• The Purge: Anarchy: Only a year went by for this sequel. If you're familiar with the first installment, it's pretty much the same. Set in LA, a young good-looking white couple just happen to run out of gas on a bridge moments before The Purge is about to begin. Luckily they run into a Punisher-like fellow, who's out on the street looking for revenge on the guy who killed his son. You can see how this goes. Not much original here although at the end of the trailer there's seems to be some sort of gala event with wealthy people about to execute the poor people or something. There's a message in there I'm sure. Another societal breakdown film. The first one was ok but I will take a pass on this installment.
• Sex Tape: Cameron Diaz & Jason Segel team up again in a comedy where the title says it all. They make a sex tape and Segel forgets to erase it and lo and behold it finds its way to the internet. Hilarity ensures when the try to get it back. Now I understand that they wanted to put a spark back into their marriage but why not just pretend to film everything. When Diaz wakes up she tells Segel to erase the tape which leads me to believe they had no intention of watching it again. In all honesty, Diaz looks HOT! and even Segel looks good as he dropped a lot of weight.
• Planes: Fire and Rescue: Disney's follow up to 2013's Planes except this time the purpose of the characters is to fight wild fires. Family film.
• Wish I Was Here: Zach Braff writes and directs this pseudo mid life crisis drama about a family man whose life starts to hit a few speed bumps and he tries to guide his family through it. There's an estranged brother, a dying father and a troubled pre-teen daughter. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that there's a happy ending. There's probably a soundtrack that sets the emotional tone of each scene and so on. Donald Faison has a cameo (in a very good cast) so we get the JD/Turk reunion that no one was clamoring for.
• I Origins: Written & directed by Mike Cahill, this film is about a molecular biologist (he's wears a lab coat and looks into a microscope so you know that science plays a big part in the film) who falls in love with a women's eyes on a billboard in NYC. As luck would have it, the woman lives in NYC and they fall in love. The couple are played by the usually creepy Michael Pitt (Ian) and Astrid Berges-Frisbey (Sofi). After a whirlwind romance they get married and the tragedy strikes. Heartbroken, Pitt's lab partner, Brit Marling (Karen), finds an exact match on Sofi's eye pattern that sends Ian to India. The underlying theme is spiritual, Pitt belives in the cold hard facts of science whereas Astrid is more of a "follow your heart" kind of person. Perhaps there might be a supreme being about if there is an exact match for Sofi's eye pattern. If Ian fell in love with the eyes before meeting Sofi, what would've happened if she wasn't that attractive? Just saying.

July 25th

• Hercules: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays the mythical Greek hero in what will be a big sword, sandals and pecs fest. Johnson is usually fun to watch in a lot of his films. This may be a guilty pleasure and it's entirely possible that I end up in a cineplex to view this film.
• Lucy: Luc Besson is back and still trying to get mileage out of La Femme Nikita. Scarlett Johansson is Lucy, an unwilling participant in a smuggling operation. It turns out the substance she's smuggling got into her system and is slowly giving her superpowers. The film covers similar grounds as Limitless did a few years ago but it goes a little further as Lucy can actually warp reality or something. For those people who want to see ScarJo in a Black Widow stand alone film, this is the closest you're going to get.
• Magic in the Moonlight: Woody Allen writes and directs a period piece (1920's perhaps) set in France with all star cast. Colin Firth is Stanley, a performer who has knack for sniffing our spiritualist frauds (like Houdini) and he's sent to the French Riviera to debunk Emma Stone's Sophie. Who may or may not be trying to scam his aunt. Stanley is unsuccessful at his attempts to prove Sophie a fraud and the more time he spends with her the more he thinks she might be real and of course falls for her (it's Emma Stone, what man 20 years her senior wouldn't?). I am not here to defend Woody Allen the person (I can't) but he can still make a good film. It's understandable why someone would boycott his work. 
• A Most Wanted Man:Anton Corbijn directs an all-star cast in a film adaption of a John Le Carre novel. If you liked Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (and I did) then it's possible you may like this a little more since it's set in modern day Europe. Philip Seymour Hoffman is an agent trying to get a hold of some information before a bomb is set to go off. The trailer looks pretty intense and is definitely worth a look. Excellent direct and a solid cast.
• Very Good Girls: Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen are two college bound pals who would like to lose their virginity before heading off to college. It's not a raunchy comedy but a coming of age drama as both fall for the hunky stud ice cream guy on the boardwalk. The film boasts a solid cast and is directed by Academy Award nominated screenwriter, Naomi Foner (Jake & Maggie Gyllenhaal's mom).
• Happy Christmas: Ana Kendrick is Jenny, a 20 something party girl who decides to move with her brother Jeff (writer/director Joe Swanberg), his wife and 2 year old son in Chicago. Jenny has responsibility issues and has trouble trying to adapt to the domesticity her brother's family has, she still like to drink heavily. Swanberg did a nice job with Drinking Buddies from 2012 and this might be fun to watch if it hits your town. Since it's an indie film, don't count on a wide release but it's possible iTunes may carry it.
• Good People: James Franco & Kate Hudson are struggling financially in London when they discover that their downstairs neighbor has been dead for quite some time. Tom Wilkinson is the detective sent to investigate the murder as the neighbor was a bit shady. Later Franco stumbles on a bag full of money totaling over 200,000 English pounds. Instead of turning the money over, Franco & Hudson opt to play it as if nothing has happened and use the money to slowly get out of their crushing debt. The problem with finding drug money is the someone always seems to want it back, you know since that individual or group worked for it. Omar Sy is that person personified. Suffice to say Franco & Hudson are a bit out of their league. This looks interesting but it also has a feel of A Simple Plan mixed together with a bit of Straw Dogs. Plus I don't think Franco is all that great.
• The Kill Team: A documentary about soldiers in Afghanistan and some not so flowery subject matter. My feeling on these films is that they should be watched whenever possible regardless of the subject matter. These things happen and people like me are shielded from it. It would be easy to judge but the military didn't want me when I was 18 and I would hope to just understand a little.
• Beneath: A group of caucasian teens decide it's a good idea to go out on a lake and party in a secluded area. While making out and merrymaking on the boat, they are attack by a fresh water monster bent on a delicious meal. The monster eats the oars and puts a whole in the boat sending it adrift. The teens slowly start to unwind as a group and it doesn't look good. Sounds familiar right.