This post-Eid weekend is significantly quieter than the weeks before in term of new releases, but we still have so many options across the board, so let’s check them out.
The Magnificent Seven
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
With: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke
What is it about? Seven gun men in the old west gradually come together to help a poor village against savage thieves.
Heads Up: This is a remake of a remake (The original 1954 Akira Kurosawa‘s Seven Samurai was made into a Western The Magnificent Seven back in the 1960). Usually when you remake a classic the results are not welcomed, and this film is not exactly getting glowing reviews, but its reviews are decent. It also helps that the cast is magnificent (pun intended), so I think it is worth watching in theater.
The Light Between Oceans
Directed by: Derek Cianfrance
With: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Rachel Weisz
What is it about? A lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia raise a baby they rescue from an adrift rowboat.
Heads Up: Based on a bestselling book, this adaptation wasn’t fully embraced either critically or commercially, but it stars real-life couple Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, both with amazing screen presence. Also director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond The Pine) is another draw. I would give this a go too.
Being Charlie
Directed by: Rob Reiner
With: Nick Robinson, Common, and Cary Elwes
What is it about? Charlie is a troublesome 18-year-old who breaks out of a youth drug treatment clinic, but when he returns home to Los Angeles, he’s given an intervention by his parents and forced to go to an adult rehab. There, he meets a beautiful but troubled girl, Eva, and is forced to battle with drugs, elusive love and divided parents.
Heads Up: What happened to Rob Reiner? The guy who gave us This is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally, and A Few Good Men hasn’t made a well regarded film since The American President and that was 1995. Being Charlie is “being rejected” by critics for predictability and relying on cliches. Honestly I cringed throughout the trailer, so I would say avoid!
Scare Campaign
Directed by: Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes
With: Meegan Warner, Ian Meadows, Olivia DeJonge
What is it about? Popular prank TV show, Scare Campaign, facing a tough competition from online websites, decides it’s time to up the ante, but will the team go too far this time? And are they about to prank the wrong guy?
Heads Up: This Australian horror film looks silly and campy. I think it would be fun to watch with audience.
The Possession Experiment
Directed by: Scott B. Hansen
With: Chris Minor, Bill Moseley, and Rachel Faulkner
What is it about? When a student takes on a theology project, he taps into another side that had been hidden away from him.
Heads Up: While Scare Campaign seems pulpy and fun, this one looks really bad. every recycled demonic possession cliche is in the trailer and it doesn’t even look that fun to begin with. AVOID!!!
Banjo
Directed by: Ravi Jadhav
With: Nargis Fakhri, Riteish Deshmukh, and Dharmesh Yelande
What is it about? A banjo player seeks fame, success, and respect.
Heads Up: I personally have never seen the appeal of neither one of the two leads, and the trailer did not offer me anything to latch on. I would sit this one out.
Save
