2016 Film Preview: March

So we've got 2 months in the bag and we'll start to see some interesting stuff opening this month as we inch closer to May when things will get turn up a notch. Here's what we have:

March 4th

• London has Fallen: Gerard Butler, his abs and the rest of the gang are back from Olympus Has Fallen. This time the President and other world leaders are in London for a head of state funeral when terrorists attack. According to the trailer this is the "most secure event" ever. So of course terrorists crash the party. Judging by the names of some of the characters (the main villain's name is Barkawi), the filmmakers are riding the current wave of Islamophobia to make Islam the bad guys. Luckily for the free world, King Leonidas and his abs won't let that happen. There's not going to be much difference between the original and the sequel accept for the venue change. London landmarks blow-up, Morgan Freeman is in a room surrounded by other political types and military men and Butler kills a bunch of guys. Enough.

• Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Based on the memoir of Kim Barker,  The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Tina Fey plays the author as she's sent to Afghanistan to cover the war. This film has a solid cast but I just don't know. The trailer just didn't interest me at all. Tina Fey is funny and talented but i don't think her films are all that great. he meets Margot Robbie when she gets to Afghanistan, there's a lot of party by the press corp and eventually things get serious. It is a war zone after all. It's possible that I see this film in a different format that the big screen. 

• Zootopia: Disney's latest animated feature that's for kids given but there are some good jokes in the trailer. 

• Knight of Cups: This film boasts an all-star cast and is written and directed by the legendary Terrence Malick. That said, who the f*ck knows what's going on in this film. Christian Bale plays a successful guy who seems to be unfulfilled with his life. Mind you he appears to be married to Cate Blanchette, is having an affair with Natalie Portman, parties a lot and has a huge home. Life is so hard for some people. Malick is known for having tremendous vision and putting together elaborate shots. It's Malick so I may see this.

• The Other Side of the Door: A family suffers the loss of their young son and the mother has a real hard time coming to grips with the tragedy. Seeking help, an creepy Indian woman tells her how to get closer but she better not open the door! The door gets opened and bad things happen. Imagine that. 

• Trapped: Documentary about Texas' war on women's reproductive rights and white male politicians fear of vaginas. I watch this trailer and was appalled on how little regard Texas politicians, and politicians (especially white male ones) in general, have for woman (mostly women of color and not affluent). My personal opinion is that a woman should have the right to choose. That's mainly because I am a male that will never have to go through the chemical and physiological changes that a pregnancy brings on nor the pains of childbirth. Because of that I don't think I should have a say. That's just me. 

March 11th

• 10 Cloverfield Lane: Girl gets in car accident. Wakes up with in a bunker who informs her that he saved her life but she's kind of a prisoner. She escapes outside the bunker. Bad idea. Since the film was made under Bad Robot Productions, it turned into a pseudo sequel to Cloverfield. This could be an interesting film, as Cloverfield was pretty decent. 

• The Brothers Grimsby: Mark Strong is an assassin for the British government. Sacha Baron Cohen is a regular guy with 9 kids who loves his wife and futball. What do these guys have in common? Why they're long lost brothers of course. Separated from an orphanage, the two had been apart for 28 years. The premise of the film is far from original but the humor is primarily British. Cohen also wrote the film so you'll probably get some interesting jokes. Mark Strong is a really good actor who just doesn't seem to get consistently good roles. Too bad. Taking a pass on this. 

• The Young Messiah: The 2nd film about Jesus within the span of a month. This film deals with Jesus as a pre-teen. The Roman soldier hunting him down in this film is Sean Bean. I get the feeling that Risen and The Young Messiah both started out as the same film but one had to change after losing a bet. 

• The Lobster: Lonely guy Colin Farrell (his wife left him) goes to a hotel where he either finds a romantic interest or turns into an animal. Those are the breaks I guess. The trailer makes it feel like this is a quirky comedy (Farrell befriends John C. Reilly who has a goofy lisp) but I think it goes a little darker than that (you turn into an animal). A black comedy maybe? I suspect that this picture won't see a wide release so it maybe hard to find at the cineplex. I don't really know what to make of this film.

• Eye in the Sky: Thriller about the morality of drone warfare. Helen Mirren has the goods on a known terrorist who's about to launch an operation. The original purpose of the drone usage was surveillance, now they want to assassinate the terrorist. When the drone pilot (Aaron Paul) spots a young girl paying near the house he refuses to attack until he gets the ok on the collateral damage. The trailer is very tense and the film has a solid cast. I'm very interested in seeing this film.

• Perfect Match: Serial dater and commit-a-phobe Charlie (Terrence Jenkins) takes a bet from his pals (Robert C. Riley & Dr. Turk) that if he were to stay with a woman for a month he just might find love. Charlie thinks he's in the clear until he meets up with Eva (Cassie Ventura). Wild guess here but he loses the bet. I feel as if this premise has been done within the last few years. The 1st film that comes to mind is Deliver Us From Eva. Maybe not then, I think that's more like Taming of the Shrew. Boomerang is more like this film. At least that's what I can remember but I'm sure there's more. No thanks.

March 18th

• The Divergent Series: Allegiant: Oh thank god another installment of the Divergent series. Is this the 3rd film? There's another slated for release in 2017 as well. Shailene Woodley is a talented actress and she's 25 years old, tell your agent to get you more adult roles. J-Law can't take them all! Not my demographic. Next.

• Midnight Special: Not sure what exactly is going on here. Michael Shannon's son has weird powers and he needs to get him to an open field. There's a lot of ominous sounding music, there's a good cast and it's written and directed by Jeff Nichols. The only problem is that when I watch the trailer, Mercury Rising comes to mind. That film stunk.

• The Bronze: A former bronze medal gymnast who fell on hard times after the Olympics is put in a position to train an up and coming gymnast. It seems weird to me that the up and coming gymnast is anywhere between 16-20 years old. In order to have a shot at the Olympics the up and comer would need to be 12-14 years old. There's a lot of foul mouthed humor. The trailer didn't grab me so I'll take a pass. 

• The Program: Based on the book, Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance_ Armstrong. The film follows the investigation into Lance Armstrong's blood doping. Directed by Stephen Frears and starring Ben Foster as Armstrong, this looks good.

• Too Late: John Hawkes is a seedy private eye. That's about what you get from the trailer. He gets involved with a stripper and he's looking for someone. Maybe? There's a lot of cigarette smoking and Hawkes eventually goes to kill someone. Not going to lie, I will probably see this film. Looks gritty and dark. Sold.

• The Confirmation: Clive Owen is an absentee father who has to spend the weekend with his young son while his ex-wife and husband go away for the weekend. Suffice to say that things don't go well but Clive gives it the old college try and least shows his son that he loves and cares about him despite his faults. The son recognizes that his dad is flawed but he's trying. This looks like a slow moving drama.

March 25th

• Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice: This picture will be the big hitter until May when Marvel Studios starts their run. We've all seen the trailers for this film and it's widely anticipated but I've grown a little cold on it for some reason. When the latest trailer came out during the Super Bowl my 1st thought was, "oh there's Batman man beating up a gang of criminals again. Seen it." Make no mistake, I'll see the film but the anticipation for a Justice League motion picture has been building up for years and if this film falls short (expectations are very high) it could be a major setback for the DCU. On a side note, we get to see Wonder Woman who will get her own stand alone film eventually. Making hers the 1st female superhero film. Nice work. 

• My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2: It's been 14 years since Toula & Ian tied the knot and they've got a daughter. The teenage daughter naturally feels suffocated by her loving family (as I suspect a lot of teenage girls do). Toula's family seems to show up at inappropriate moments and say things that make Paris cringe. I never jumped on the bandwagon of the 1st film that had an incredible run at the box office. This looks like a standard goofy family comedy that I usually don't bother with. 

• I Saw the Light: The very British Tom Hiddleston play iconic country crooner Hank Williams. Hank pretty much cast the mold for hard drinking womanizing singers, be it country or rock. The film focuses on his rise and sudden death at 29. I didn't get into Walk the Line so I'll probably sit this one out as well.
• Born to be Blue: Ehtan Hawke plays legendary jazz musician Chet Baker an a film that traces his life from his 1st performance at iconic Jazz Club Birdland to his the near ending of his career after an assault that left him unable to play the trumpet to his triumphant return. I'm not into jazz music so I'll pass on this.
• Identicals: Sci-fi film where a person get can get a life upgrade by the better life donor (?). For one participant things go awry and he's forced to take on the Brand New U corporation. Not sure what exactly is going on in this film except that the protagonists girlfriend is abducted from their home and he goes to find her. That's what I got from the trailer. The film appears dark and I like that but I may wait to see this picture when it hits OnDemand or iTunes.

• Get a Job: 30 year old Anna Kendrick plays the very 22 year old Jillian as she sets off on life after college. She nags her boyfriend about finding work until the tables are turned when she gets fired and he gets a good gig. There ares some stoner jokes and a lot couple of Caucasian millennials griping about their lives like most college grads. No thanks!