2015 Preview: February

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films that are set to come out in 2015. This is Part 2 of 12 and today we’ll be looking at the films that will be hitting theaters this February. Now that we’ve gotten out of the ‘dead month’ of Hollywood known as January, I believe that we’ll have plenty more noteworthy films to talk about this month than we did last month. We’re still a few months away from the Summer Blockbusters but hey, who knows? There may be some gems amongst this month’s lineup. So let’s get started as we look into the films of February.

FEBRUARY 6- The month starts off with three new releases the first weekend, two of which finally see a release after both were pushed back from previous release dates.

*After being pushed back from its original July 2014 release date in order for there to be more time for post-production work, the Wachowskis’ latest film, ‘Jupiter Ascending’, finally comes out. Mila Kunis stars as the titular Jupiter, a young woman from Earth who learns that she has the same genetic signature of a powerful alien dynasty that controls the planet and that she is an heir to the throne. But when one of the other potential heirs, Balem (Eddie Redmayne), puts out a bounty for her, a genetically engineered hunter by the name of Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) comes to her aid to protect her. The film also stars Sean Bean and Douglas Booth.

*The other major ‘finally getting released’ film this weekend is ‘Seventh Son’, which got pushed back multiple times mainly due to the film’s production company Legendary Pictures signing a new contract with Universal last year after having worked with Warner Bros. since 2005. Based on the book ‘The Spook’s Apprentice’ by Joseph Delaney (the first book in the ‘Wardstone Chronicles’ series), the film centers on a young man Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) who learns that he is the ‘seventh son of a seventh son’ which grants him special powers as he becomes the apprentice of a Spook (Jeff Bridges), who trains him in the art of fighting supernatural evil. The film also stars Julianne Moore, Kit Harington, and Djimon Hounsou.

*More than a decade after the release of its previous film, the hit Nick TV show ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ returns to the big screen with ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water’. In this film, SpongeBob and his friends find themselves having to travel to the surface, where they acquire superpowers, when a pirate by the name of Burger-Beard (Antonio Banderas) steals the Krabby Patty formula.

FEBRUARY 13- One of the most talked about films of the year comes out around a ‘fitting’ time (Valentine’s Day Weekend, though I use the term fitting loosely) along with the latest from director Matthew Vaughn.

*Based off of the first entry in the best-selling erotic romance book series, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, centers on a young literature student named Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) who falls in love with wealthy business magnate Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) after first meeting him during an interview. As they grow closer, Anastasia soon learns of Christian’s ‘tastes’ (BDSM, for the record, in case any of you haven’t heard of the book).

*Director Matthew Vaughn takes on his second major adaptation of a Mark Millar comic (following 2010’s ‘Kick-Ass’) with ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’. Colin Firth stars as a veteran secret agent who recruits a young juvenile delinquent (Taron Egerton) into the Secret Service. The film also stars Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mark Strong.

FEBRUARY 20- Two comedies and a sports drama come out this weekend.

*In ‘The DUFF’, based on the book of the same name by Kody Keplinger, a high-school senior initiates a new social pecking order after learning that she has been deemed ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ by her more popular friends. The film’s cast includes Bella Thorne, Robbie Amell (Firestorm from ‘Flash’), and Mae Whitman.

*The sequel to the 2010 comedy ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’, the main cast (save for John Cusack, who is replaced here by Adam Scott) returns for ‘Hot Tub Time Machine 2’, in which friends Nick and Jacob (Craig Robinson and Clark Duke, respectively) use the same hot tub time-traveling machine that previously sent them and their friends back in time to the 80’s to go back in time when their friend Lou (Rob Corddry) gets shot. However, they end up going a decade into the future instead.

*Disney’s newest true story sports drama, ‘McFarland, USA’, is based on the true story of a Latino cross-country team from McFarland, California who overcame numerous social issues in the 1980’s to achieve championship glory. Kevin Costner stars as the team’s coach.

FEBRUARY 27- Finally we have a Will Smith comedy and a new horror film from Blumhouse Productions coming out to close the month.

*Will Smith and Margot Robbie star in ‘Focus’, directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. Smith stars as a seasoned con-man who recruits, and becomes romantically involved with, a young woman (Robbie) into the business. But soon they start to come into conflict with each other when the woman becomes involved with a billionaire (Rodrigo Santoro (‘300’)) who Smith’s character is planning to steal from.

*Finally we have the newest film from producer Jason Blum, ‘The Lazarus Effect’, which centers on a team of medical professionals who discover a way to bring the deceased back to life via a serum known as ‘Lazarus’. They first use it on a human when one of their own (played by Olivia Wilde) dies in a lab accident but soon they start to experience some trouble once she starts acting strange. 

    

And those are the films that will be hitting theaters this February. Check back next month for Part 3 of this Year-Long preview as we’ll be looking at the films coming out this March.

2014 Preview: February

(Note: Due to Computer Issues, I was unable to do a Preview for the Films that came out in January. However, even with that setback, I will still be doing these monthly previews for this year. It’s just that this post will be the first of these for the year when normally this would be the second.)

So, with the dead month of ‘January’ over, we might find ourselves with a few more noteworthy films this month. Welcome to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview for the films set to come out in 2014. This is Part 1 of… well, what is now 11 and today we’ll be looking at the films that will be hitting theaters in February.

FEBRUARY 7- The month kicks off with a trio of new films hitting theaters this weekend, including an animated film based off of a world-famous franchise and a film starring a major ensemble cast.



*The first release of the month is ‘The LEGO Movie’, an animated film based on the popular line of construction toys of the same name. Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (the duo behind ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ and ’21 Jump Street’ (as well as the latter’s sequel)), the film follows an ordinary ‘guy’ (mini-figure to be precise) named Emmet who is mistaken to be a great ‘Master Builder’ and is sent on a quest to defeat an evil tyrant named Lord Business who plans to take over the LEGO universe. The film’s ensemble voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, and Morgan Freeman.



*Based on the book of the same name by Robert M. Edsel, ‘The Monuments Men’ was originally set to come out in December 2013 but was pushed back to this month due to the fact that more time was needed in post-production. George Clooney directs and stars as the leader of a ‘platoon’ of museum directors, curators, and historians who are sent into Germany during the final months of WWII in order to find valuable pieces of art before the Nazis have them all destroyed. The film also stars Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, and Cate Blanchett.



*Another book adaptation hits theaters this weekend, ‘Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters’. The film is based off of the 2007 novel of the same name (minus the ‘Blood Sisters’ part) by Richelle Mead, which is the first in a series of six books, and is directed by Mark Waters (‘Mean Girls’). The film centers on two vampires, a half-human/vampire named Rose (Zoey Deutch) and a ‘mortal’ vampire named Lissa (Lucy Fry) who return to their old boarding school to deal with the growing threat of a group of bloodthirsty undead vampires known as the ‘Strigoi’.

FEBRUARY 14- Valentine’s Day weekend will be full of new romantic movies; two of them along with a film that, while technically a fantasy film, has been marketed as a ‘Love Story’. For the action crowd, one film will be hitting theaters this weekend as well, albeit two days early. Ironically, three of these films are remakes while the other one is an adaptation of a book.



*The early release on February 12^th is ‘Robocop’, a remake of the 1987 sci-fi classic of the same name directed by Paul Verhoeven. This new film is directed by Brazilian director Jose Padilha and stars Joel Kinnaman (AMC’s ‘The Killing’) as Alex Murphy, a Detroit cop who is critically wounded and turned into a part-man/part-robot machine, Robocop, by the corporation known as OmniCorp in order to deal with the crime in Detroit. The film also stars Michael Keaton as the head of OmniCorp, Gary Oldman as the head scientist behind the ‘RoboCop’ operation, and Samuel L. Jackson as the host of a TV show in support of using machines in order to deal with crime, amongst others.



*‘About Last Night’ is a remake of a 1986 film, which starred Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, of the same name, which is itself based off of a 1974 play called ‘Sexual Perversity in Chicago’. This film features an all-black cast and centers around two couples whose relationships begin to develop further after one-night stands. The film stars Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall, and Joy Bryant in the lead roles.



*Another romance remake hits theaters this weekend as well, ‘Endless Love’. This one is a remake of a 1981 film that was directed by Franco Zeffirelli (1968’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’) and starred Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, along with Tom Cruise in his film debut. This version is directed by Shana Feste (2011’s ‘Country Strong’) and stars Alex Pettyfur and Gabriella Wilde as a couple who begin to fall in love despite the fact that their parents try to split them up.



*Finally, of the films to come out this weekend, we have ‘Winter’s Tale’, based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Mark Helprin. The film is directed by Akiva Goldsman (writer of ‘A Beautiful Mind’, ‘The DaVinci Code’ and… ‘Batman and Robin’ (do with that information as you will)) who makes his directorial debut with this film. Colin Farrell stars as a thief in 1916 New York who falls in love with a girl named Beverly (Jessica Brown Findlay) who is dying from tuberculosis. Soon after she dies, he finds himself in modern-day New York and discovers that he has the power of reincarnation as he sets off to rescue her. The film also stars Jennifer Connelly and Russell Crowe.

FEBRUARY 21- After a weekend with three romance films, a pair of action films will open this weekend.



*Kevin Costner stars in ‘3 Days to Kill’, an action thriller directed by McG (‘Terminator Salvation’, ‘Charlie’s Angels’) and written by Luc Besson (‘The Fifth Element). Costner plays a dying Secret Service agent who is given one last assignment in exchange for medical treatment that could save him from dying.



*Paul W.S. Anderson’s (‘Resident Evil’) latest film ‘Pompeii’ centers on the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried the titular Roman town in lava and rubble. The film centers on a slave named Milo (Kit Harrington (‘Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow)) who must rescue his true love, Cassia (Emily Browning), the daughter of a merchant who is forced into marrying a corrupt senator (Kiefer Sutherland), as Vesuvius erupts.

FEBRUARY 28- The month closes out with three new films; a thriller, a film adaptation of a TV miniseries, and a found footage Sci-Fi film. Also, the final film from a critically acclaimed director will have an expanded release after opening in limited release the previous week.



*Liam Neeson reunites with his ‘Unknown’ director, Jaume Collet-Serra, for ‘Non-Stop’, in which he stars as an air marshal who receives text messages stating that the passengers on his plane will be killed unless $150 million is transferred into a secret bank account… which turns out to be his own. The film also stars Julianne Moore and Lupita Nyong’o.



*Based off of the TV miniseries ‘The Bible’, ‘Son of God’ tells the tale of Jesus Christ from the time of his birth to his resurrection. The film will consist of scenes from the miniseries along with some deleted scenes that were not featured on TV.



*(UPDATE: Just a few days after I first posted this, Paramount postponed the film's release and it will now open on January 30, 2015) Produced by Michael Bay, ‘Welcome to Yesterday’ is a found-footage film that follows a group of teenagers who discover plans for a time machine. They end up making one themselves and use it for personal gain, not realizing the consequences that will come from their actions.



*Initially opening back in July 2013 in Japan and after a limited opening on February 21^st, ‘The Wind Rises’ will have an expanded release this weekend. The film is directed by renowned anime director Hayao Miyazaki in what is set to be his last film before retirement. The film itself is based off of Miyazaki’s manga of the same name (‘Kaze Tachinu’ in Japanese) which centers on Jiro Horikoshi, the creator of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane. The film’s English dub cast includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Martin Short, and Stanley Tucci.

And those are the films that will be coming out in February 2014. Stay tuned for Part 2 next month where we’ll look at the March 2014 lineup.

2013 Preview: February

Welcome back to this monthly preview of the upcoming films of 2013. This is Part 2 of 12 and today we'll be looking at the films that will hit theaters in the month of February.

*While January saw the return of the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger, fellow 80's stars Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis both have new films coming out this month. Stallone's movie, 'Bullet to the Head', starts off the month on the 1^st. Directed by Walter Hill (producer of the Alien franchise and director of '48 Hrs.'), Bullet to the Head stars Stallone as Jimmy Bobo, a professional hit-man who joins forces with a young detective to take down an enemy in New Orleans.



*Two other movies hit theaters the same weekend as Bullet to the Head. One of these films is a crime-comedy, 'Stand Up Guys'. Al Pacino stars as Val, a con man who is released from prison and reunites with his old partner Doc, played by Christopher Walken. Little does Val know that Doc has been hired by a man known as Claphands to kill Val as revenge for killing his son.



*The final release of the week is 'Warm Bodies', a zombie romantic comedy film from Jonathan Levine, director of 2011's '50/50', and based on the novel of the same name by Issac Marion. Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) stars as R, a zombie who wanders around America after a mysterious plague wipes out most of the human population. After eating the brains of the boyfriend of a young woman named Julie (Teresa Palmer), R falls in love with her.



*A slew of new movies hits theaters starting on the 8^th of February. The first is a comedy, Identity Thief, directed by Seth Gordon (who helmed 2011's 'Horrible Bosses'). Jason Bateman stars as Sandy Bigelow Patterson, who heads to Florida when he learns that his identity has been stolen by a woman named Diana (Melissa McCarthy).

*'Side Effects' is a psychological thriller from director Steven Soderbergh. Rooney Mara stars as a young woman who tries prescription drugs to deal with her anxiety as she awaits her husband's release from jail. Jude Law, Channing Tatum, and Catherine Zeta Jones co-star.

*This week also sees the first 3-D re-release of the year (one of two (previously five until the cancellation of 'The Little Mermaid 3D' and both 'Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones' and 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith') in 'Top Gun', the classic 1986 action film directed by the late Tony Scott starring Tom Cruise as Maverick, a hotshot pilot who enlists at the Navy's prestigious school, Top Gun. The film will see a 6-day re-release in IMAX 3-D starting on the 8^th.





*Valentine's Day Weekend is going to be a packed one at the theater as four new movies are set to come out this week, including two romance films (both of which are based off of books), an action film, and an animated film. The first romance film is 'Beautiful Creatures', based off the novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the first novel in the Caster Chronicles. The story follows a boy named Ethan, who falls in love with a girl named Lena who is revealed to be a Caster, someone that can use magic.



*The other romantic film that weekend is the latest based off of a novel by author Nicholas Sparks, following 'The Notebook', 'Dear John', 'The Last Song', and 'The Lucky One'. In 'Safe Haven', a young woman named Katie (Julianne Hough) moves to the town of Southport, North Carolina harboring a dark secret. While there, she falls in love with Alex (Josh Duhamel), a widower living with his two kids. 'Safe Haven' is directed by Lasse Hallstrom, director of 'Dear John'.



*For the action crowd, this weekend sees the release of 'A Good Day to Die Hard', the fifth entry in the 'Die Hard' series. Bruce Willis reprises his role of NYPD cop John McClane and in this film, he heads to Russia where he becomes involved in a terrorist scheme along with his son Jack (Spartacus' Jai Courtney). It is also the first film in the series to not be based off of either a preexisting novel (Die Hard 1 and 2) or screenplay (Die Hard with a Vengeance/Live Free or Die Hard).

*The animated film released this weekend is 'Escape from Planet Earth'. The film is produced by Rainmaker Entertainment, the company responsible for the first CGI animated series, Reboot, and will be distributed by the Weinstein Company. The film follows astronaut Scorch Supernova, a national hero on his home world of Baab who gets caught up in a trap when he answers an SOS from a dangerous planet.

*A sci-fi horror film hits theaters on the 22^nd. Dark Skies is the latest film from Jason Blum, producer of the Paranormal Activity series and Insidious. Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton (the actor from the 1993 film 'Alive', not the baseball player) star as a couple who must save their family from an alien presence.



*The last film to hit theaters in February is Snitch. Dwayne Johnson stars as the father of a teenaged boy who is framed and put in jail for distributing drugs as Johnson's character tries to clear his son's name.

LIMITED RELEASE OF THE MONTH



*'A Glimpse inside the Mind of Charles Swan III' is a comedy film directed by Roman Coppola, son of Francis Ford Coppola. Charlie Sheen stars as Charles Swan III, a successful graphic designer who tries to turn his life around after his girlfriend dumps him. The film will hit theaters in a limited release starting on February 8^th.