Obviously the big news of the week is that the Cloverfield movie is (a) out and (b) good. But there’s lots of other stuff opening as well, so let’s get right on it.
Born to Be Blue: Ethan Hawke makes a really interesting Chet Baker in Robert Budreau’s stylized examination of a few key years in the artist’s life. If only the rest of the picture was as good as its star.
The Brothers Grimsby: Show of hands: Who among us hasn’t wanted to see Sacha Baron Cohen masturbate an elephant while inside the body of another elephant? Right, that’s what I thought.
Cemetery of Splendor: Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s latest is a typically dreamy affair, but it’s a little too content to drift on the coattails of his previous work. Let’s see what comes next.
Glassland: Jack Reynor and Toni Collette star in Gerard Barrett’s Irish drama about a self-destructive woman and her resentfully enabling son. Glenn says it has its moments.
Hip-Hop-Eration: Rad was not exactly enthralled by Bryn Evans’ documentary about seniors who’ve embraced hip-hop. And I can’t say I blame him.
The Little Prince: On the other hand, Rad swooned for Mark Osborne’s adaptation of the beloved children’s book, realized in two different types of animation. I’m so there.
River: Jamie M. Dagg’s Laotian thriller features a terrific, immediate performance from Rossif Sutherland as an American doctor on the run. The ending’s a little pat, though.
Speed Sisters: Amber Fares’ documentary about five female Palestinian race-car drivers back at Hot Docs was a hit at Hot Docs; Susan can see why, though she has some notes.
10 Cloverfield Lane: J.J. Abrams’ latest mystery box is really good — and entirely unrelated to the 2008 monster mash, except in thematic terms. I suspect it’ll be even better on second viewing.
The Young Messiah: Between the Joseph Fiennes one and the Jennifer Garner one, another Christian movie throws itself into the pre-Easter fray. UPDATE: It’s not very good.
See? I told you there was plenty to cover.
As a critic, how excited do you get for movies based on trailers? Or do you try to avoid them as much as possible to avoid preconceptions? The trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane has been my favorite in a long time, both for not over-showing and for its use of the creepy cover of Tiffany’s I Think We’re Alone Now. Only the ComicCon, I Started a Joke, Suicide Squad trailer came close. I wonder how much finding a perfect song to edit a trailer to impacts how effectively a movie is marketed.
I avoid trailers as often as possible, along with all other pre-release marketing. I just don’t want the images in my head, because eventually I’ll be trying to figure out where they fit into the movie as I watch it. I sometimes get stuck in a theater with them — I saw the “Ghostbusters” trailer last night in front of “The Brothers Grimsby”, which turned out to be the high point of the evening — but yeah, as a matter of course I don’t watch them.