This weekend’s biggest release is the second Disney live action-remake of this year, plus a few shelved titles, so let’s go!
Aladdin
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
With: Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, and Will Smith
What is it about: A kindhearted street urchin and a power-hungry Grand Vizier vie for a magic lamp that has the power to make their deepest wishes come true.
Heads Up: The original animated 1992 film is considered a classic, topping the box-office on the year of its release and winning two Oscars. It’s one of the most beloved Disney films of all time, so it’s a tall order for this remake to live up to the legacy of the original. I personally like the original just fine, but not too enamoured by it that I wouldn’t accept an update. However, I still have my reservations on this one, because sadly none of the material we have seen is that promising, and the fact that Disney is keeping the reviews from getting out up to the last minute is also a bad sign. I’d say wait and see.
Damascus Cover
Directed by: Daniel Zelik Berk
With: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Olivia Thirlby, and John Hurt
What is it about: A spy navigates the precarious terrain of love and survival during an undercover mission in Syria.
Heads Up: A spy thriller that has been summed up as “essentially every bit the hackneyed espionage drama that any veteran of ’90s action thrillers might expect after reading its title“. Despite being one of the very last roles of the late John Hurt, I am gonna advise you to avoid.
Discarnate
Directed by: Mario Sorrenti
With: Thomas Kretschmann, Nadine Velazquez, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Josh Stewart, and Chris Coy
What is it about: A neuroscientist’s obsession with a drug that expands the human mind inadvertently unleashes a deadly supernatural force on his team.
Heads Up: This horror film seems like it want to be Flatliners meets The Thing. Doesn’t look all that intriguing to me. Skip.
Goodland
Directed by: Josh Doke
With: Matt Weiss, Cinnamon Schultz, and Sara Carolynn Kennedy
What is it about? When the body of a drifter is discovered the same day a photographer arrives in a small farming community, the local sheriff is left to piece together a string of events that don’t quite add up.
Heads Up? This is a noir film that is set in rural backdrops. There is virtually no known actor in this film, but it doesn’t look that bad at all, and the few reviews available for it suggest that it’s a good debut for its writer/director Josh Doke. I’d say maybe it’s worth a look.
