Upcoming Flicks March 2018
Australian cinema listings for March 2018.
Dominika Egorova is recruited into Sparrow School, a secret intelligence agency, after an injury ends her career as a ballerina. The harsh and sadistic training regime turns the prima into their deadliest Sparrow.
Genre: Thriller
Director: Francis Lawrence
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons
Recommendation: See it. It looks superb.
The Old Testament of Samson, a man empowered with superhuman strength by God, and the betrayal that occurs by his wife Delilah.
Genre: Drama
Director: Bruce Macdonald, Gabriel Sabloff
Stars: Jackson Rathbone, Billy Zane, Taylor James
Recommendation: Personally, I like religious stories when they are the big spectacle and more for the entertainment rather than the religion, but some stories do peak my interest, and this is one of them.
After 9/11, twelve U.S. Special Forces soldiers go to Afghanistan to convince Northern Alliance General Dostum to join forces with them to fight the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies.
Genre: Historical War Drama
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Elsa Pataky
Recommendation: It sounds like an interesting story, but it has not been well received. 50/50
In 1968 amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst attempted to circumnavigate the world. This is the story of the struggles of his solo trek and the family he left at home to follow the horizon.
Genre: Drama
Director: James Marsh
Stars: Colin Firth, Rachel Weisz, David Thewlis
Recommendation: These small dramas always have big heart and I love to watch someone take risks to follow their dreams, even if it doesn’t work out for the best.
Death Wish is a remake of the 1974 Charles Bronson film. After Paul Kersey’s wife was murdered and the police we unable to bring the murderers to justice, Kersey takes the law into his own hands and becomes a vigilante of Chicago.
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Eli Roth
Stars: Bruce Willis, Vincent D'Onofrio
Recommendation: Without having seen the original film, or its numerous sequels, this seems to be a very standard Bruce Willis action film, and they are always a good way to kill a couple of hours.
Based on the video games, Lara Croft tracks attempts to track her father’s final destination in hopes of solving his disappearance, leading her on an adventure with unknown dangers.
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Roar Uthaug
Stars: Alicia Vikander, Walton Goggins, Dominic West, Daniel Wu
Recommendation: I love global adventure films. I really like the trailers for this, even if Lara does do 1000 jumps where she only just grabs onto the other side by the tips of her fingernails. I wonder if it’ll be successful enough to reboot the franchise or will it just fizzle away like so many others?
Set 10 years after the first film, the Jaeger is the most powerful defence program in history and is still currently used against the Kaiju that continue to breach through our oceans.
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Steven S. DeKnight
Stars: John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Rinko Kikuchi, Tian Jing, Charlie Day
Recommendation: I was a fan of the first one, and it was lucky that a Chinese cinema chain bought Legendary Pictures, or we may not have the sequel. The first one did very well in the Asian market but not great in the U.S… but here we are, and I’ll be seeing it.
Constricted by the hierarchies of the day, Mary defies her traditional family to join a new social movement led by the charismatic Jesus of Nazareth. She soon finds a place within the movement and at the heart of a journey that will lead to Jerusalem.
Genre: Drama
Director: Garth Davis
Stars: Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Recommendation: Well, you can have yourself a biblical double feature. After seeing Samson, you can go see the film of the other Mary. What a cast! Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus! One must wonder how did the method actor prepared for that role? Again, I find religious stories interesting, so I am curious what they have done with it.
If you are familiar Peter Rabbit than you are aware he has an ongoing feud with a local farmer, Mr. McGregor. This escalates to greater heights as they fight for the affections of the warm-hearted animal lover who lives next door.
Genre: Animated/Family
Director: Will Gluck
Stars: James Corden, Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Sam Neill, Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie, and Elizabeth Debicki.
Recommendation: I may cop some hate for this, but I am not a fan of Peter Rabbit. He is a bully, he teases, he steals and thinks he has the right to take anything. I don’t think he is a good role model for young children by any means. And I haven’t even seen the movie that is now being criticised for Peter being an allergy bully. I am sure it is a very fun, family friendly film, but I cannot get onboard with it.
Based on Ernest Cline’s novel, Ready Player One is set in a not too distant, dystopian future where the world connects through the virtual space called the OASIS, designed by James Halliday. Halliday’s will reveal that he has hidden three easter eggs in the OASIS and the one who finds all three will inherit Halliday’s entire fortune and ownership of the OASIS.
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T. J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance
Recommendation: See it. The book is fantastic. There are numerous Spielberg references built into the grandeur of 80s/90s pop culture references and I cannot wait to see how my favourite director brings that to screen.
Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time is based on the 1962 by Madeleine L'Engle. After her father goes missing on a distant planet, Meg Murry, starts a search for him with the help of three astral travellers.
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Director: Ava DuVernay
Stars: Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Storm Reid, Zach Galifianakis, Chris Pine
Recommendation: See it, and take the kids. This looks like a magical experience with some awe-inspiring effects with genuine heart.
Three parents stumble upon their three daughters’ emoji txts and decipher that they have all made a pact to lose their virginity on prom night. The parents are out to cock block them.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Kay Cannon
Stars: Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, John Cena, Kathryn Newton, Graham Phillips, June Diane Raphael, Hannibal Buress, Sarayu Blue
Recommendation: I was very surprised when I found myself cracking up at the red band trailer. It was so funny, and I am not usually a fan of recent American comedies. See it.
Early Man is a stop-motion animated adventure from Aardman Animations (Wallace & Gromit, Flushed Away, Shaun the Sheep). Early Man tells the story of Dug who must defend his tribe against a tyrant of the Bronze Age, Lord Nooth.
Genre: Animated
Director: Nick Park
Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Maisie Williams, Timothy Spall, Tom Hiddleston
Recommendation: See it. Aardman have a successful history with the latest, Shaun the Sheep, being hilarious with so much love and heart. Their themes run deep and thorough throughout the film and I wouldn’t expect anything less than from Early Man.
Based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Love, Simon we follow a normal high school student that tries to fit in but has a secret he cannot bring himself to face. Simon is gay and there is someone at the school that is blackmailing him.
Genre: Drama
Director: Greg Berlanti
Stars: Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Garner
Recommendation: It looks good. Simon seems to be a sympathetic character. I’m not expecting great things from the film, but just an enjoyable mid-range film.
· Paul, Apostle of Christ
Held under Roman imprisonment during his final days, Paul shares the events that led him there.
Genre: Drama
Director: Andrew Hyatt
Stars: James Faulkner, Jim Caviezel, Joanne Whalley
Recommendation: Well, now you can make it a triple religious feature. This one is clearly just promoting Christianity for Christians. I think I’ll just stick with Samson and Mary this month. Paul, I’m not overly interested in what you’re selling.
Sherlock Gnomes is asked to help Gnomeo and Juliet find some lawn ornaments that have disappeared.
Genre: Animated
Director: John Stevenson
Stars: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mary J. Blige, Johnny Depp
Recommendation: I like the cast, but I just don’t find it funny or entertaining, so I’ll say gnome way Jose.
That’s March all wrapped up. My picks for the month are Ready Player One, Red Sparrow and Early Man. Get to the cinema and check out some flicks.