Summer - Fall 2026 Movie Preview

I'm back to the traditional early summer entry, even though I haven't had much time to look carefully at what's coming in the next half of the year. But let's see what I've gathered...

At the beginning of June, "Another World", an anime produced last year, will be released internationally. The interesting part is that it's not Japanese, even though it's an adaptation of a Japanese novel. It's the first feature film by a new generation director from Hong Kong - in fact, the full version of a short animation on the same subject, from a few years ago. I haven't seen it, but it seems to have been quite appreciated, as have the reviews so far for this one.

Also in June we have the newest production directed by Steven Spielberg, who returns to SF with "Disclosure Day". Some critics have already commented that it would be his best film in the last 20 years. I wouldn't bet on that. David Koepp, the main screenwriter, one of the most prolific in Hollywood, has quite a few titles to his credit that left me with an impression of an average popcorn movie, if not mediocre, built on an existing commercial basis (the latest adaptations after Dan Brown, the latest "Indiana Jones", the latest version for "The Mummy", "War of the Worlds", and others). It is true that here he is together with the director on the script, and that he also had some pretty good original titles like "Panic Room" or "Stir of Echoes", but that was a long time ago...

In July we have another summer blockbuster, "The Odyssey", Nolan's already much-talked-about mega-production. I don't know what to say here either - "The Odyssey" is very promising cinematically, but I never imagined Odysseus as Matt Damon... And if I look at the rest of the cast, I wouldn't say that this is the most "interesting" casting decision.

Released last year, passing through the autumn festivals, and apparently ending its wider distribution route in July, "Stille Freundin" is probably the most visually interesting production on the current list as a possible big screen experience. I don't know much about the film, apart from the fact that it follows the life of a gingko tree through about three distinct time periods, but what caught my attention when I saw the trailer released only about two months ago was the cinematography. Sometimes the rest matters less.

To include something fitting the cliché "life beats the movie", at the end of July we have an international distribution of a French production, "L'affaire Bojarski". Probably it adds a bit of fantasy to the real story, but still, it's a lesser-known episode of a Polish refugee after WW2, and catchy enough to be worth a movie.

Also coming from France, we have a new version of the first novel by Albert Camus - "L'Étranger". It's already been screened at several festivals since last year, and got some nominations at Cesar and EFA. From what I could find about it, by August it should have reached almost all of Europe. So far, I have not been tempted by anything produced by Francois Ozon among those that I have crossed with, but here I would make an exception.

David Robert Mitchell debuted in 2010 with an obscure indie that I haven't seen. He continued in 2014 with "It Follows" (no pun intended), another indie that emerged from obscurity at NIFFF, Cannes and many other festivals, where it collected quite a few awards. In my opinion, it probably remains somewhere in the top 3 of atmospheric horror films I've ever seen, and a good example to be taught in school of how to achieve something of maximum effect from this genre with almost non-existent blood and gore. "Under the Silver Lake" followed in 2018, a bit out of the indie zone in terms of cast, which veered from intense to bizarre, being difficult to define as a genre, but decent in terms of originality. After a long break, this year we have "The End of Oak Street" announced in August. At the risk of becoming monotonous with the pessimism for the Hollywood releases above... I have doubts here too. Because this no longer seems indie at all, and cash in requires cash out...

To turn to a more optimistic area, even though I have never been a fan of stop motion, Aardman remains in the very narrow list of mainstream animation studios that made me laugh out loud at almost every big screen production (not that they have many). Even if sometimes it becomes a little too British on the humor side. But maybe with the new iteration of "Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom", announced on September, co-produced by StudioCanal, it also turns towards French. But then again... would it be that good?

We're shifting the genre to adult stuff in October with "Verity", adaptation of a popular novel. The reason for inclusion in the list: we are looking for a thriller + the trailer (guilty pleasure).

We are moving the direction again, also in October. Of this whole list, I can say that I am more confident in the announced animations than in the movies - I think it is the first time that I have three in a series of previews, and the last one, "Wildwood", is the first as expected. The team behind it is the one that also worked on "Coraline", but more notably on "Kubo and the Two Strings", probably among the most intense animations as a metaphor in the last ~15 years. It is true that the same team also has the opposite in its CV, "ParaNorman" (depite all the critical appreciation). But with the trailer below, I remain in the optimistic zone here. The number of views in two weeks says a lot.

In November, we have "Wild Horse Nine". I don't have any Martin McDonagh film that has disappointed me out of the four so far - direction + script - "In Bruges", "Seven Psychopaths", "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri", "The Banshees of Inisherin", not even the short one - "Six Shooter". So I would say this is a safe bet.

I end November, and the summer-autumn list, also with an international release from Asia, as I started it: "Godzilla Minus Zero", which I hope will reconfirm its exception from the monster movie genre, and remain in Asia as an influence in the production, as the teaser kind of makes you think... Maybe it's not just an attempt to squeeze a sequel. The previous "Godzilla Minus One" was a more than surprising move in a niche that was limited until then to cheap thrills by definition, especially under the influence of Hollywood. The return to the Japanese heritage brought a dramatic depth at the level of the Mariana Trench compared to the previous puddles in asphalt, even at the level of VFX, coordinated by the director who is also a screenwriter. Takashi Yamazaki has a rather long biography behind him, from which a long time ago I saw "Returner", cheap, but not really thin at the beginning of his career = something that seemed to say then that there was potential.

I think I haven't ticked so many titles in the preview list since the time when I was doing it in two rounds, but back then they were pretty much what I caught on Apple trailers (probably the only use of the multi-colored apple that I ever had). The same now, the reason is that I didn't really have time to search, so I left the selection more relaxed. I hope it's not too relaxed and at least two or three titles will be worth watching on the big screen.

Winter-Spring 2023-2024 Movie Preview

I got to the seasonal entry for the start of winter for what's coming up in the next six months, which once again saves me for lacking another subject. So, let's see...

For December, we already have a release that normally wouldn't be in my area of interest: "Godzilla Minus One" or using its original name "Gojira -1.0". There are two reasons that made me stop to this title: the reviews that got out until now are quite promising and the fact that this is not made in Hollywood = here we have the Japanese alternative to the American version, for which I skipped the last installments. As I said, "monster movie" is not really part of the genres I watch, but for this I'll probably make an exception.

In January we have a light action with some nuance of comedy: "Role Play". The recepy of the wed couple where one (or both) has a secret life is not a new one, but I don't see any other more promising title for the beginning of the year. At least this one has some "fun to watch" potential.

I didn't stop easily in February at a movie with the Marvel logo attached somewhere in its credits, but I've been expecting already for some time to see a better version of what "Next" with Nicolas Cage was (originally a short story by P.K. Dick), and this is something I finally seem to get in "Madame Web". Out of the trailer looks like that the super-hero context, if present, at least won't be dominating this. Hopefully...

The most expected release in March is the second part of "Dune" postponed from November, which I checked on the previous previews list, so let's move directly to April. Unfortunately it's not a month with many released trailers, and the only I can pick is the US replica of the title we started with = "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire". And like that, I ended up having two "monster movies" in this list. Now, everybody can choose which to pick...

I'm going to end with May when we'll have the "Furiosa" prequel, by George Miller to his "Mad Max" reboot from 2015. I wasn't very confident back than in how the movie will end up, but it was a nice surprise. I'm not very confindent now either. So...

Summer-Fall 2023 Movie Preview

As it happens lately, my mood for writing new entries is "incapacitated" due to various reasons. I'm still trying though to keep this blog alive, and since we reached the usual time for the preview of the next six months, that's making my job easier. After all, here it probably matters more what trailers I include in the enumeration than what I'm rambling besides these => it allows me some economy with the extra comments. So, let's check out what we have on a short list...

In June, "Maggie Moore(s)" makes a difference in the typical scenery of summer blockbusters, reason why I decided to choose it to start the list, hoping for something more original. It looks like a mix of a mystery thriller and a dark comedy. We'll see how that works out.

It's rare when I refer to biopics on my blog, because it's definitely not among my favorite genres. However, for "Oppenheimer", announced for July, I decided to make an exception. One reason is the direction by Nolan. The second reason is because (unfortunately) the topic seems to become more and more timely.

I didn't have much choice of trailers for August, so I'm skipping through to September when we have "The Creator". The movies's baseline is overused, and I doubt it can reach the heights of predecessors like "Terminator", "Matrix" and others. But at least is a "clasic" SciFi (not a SH = "superhero" movie), which is a genre that we don't see very often.

In October we have the official release date for "Killers of the Flower Moon", the most recent film by Scorsese. After the Cannes pre-screening, the reviews look good.

I'm closing the list with "Dune: Part Two". All I can say is that I hope they'll keep some limits on the adaptation freedom we've seen in the first part, although what's already done is done. Except that, we'll see how it goes in November... Let's get there first.

Winter-Spring 2022-2023 Movie Preview

Usually, if there's nothing to cause a delay, I'm posting the "traditional" seasonal entry before the actual beggining of the "season". Now I'm a couple days late, and not only due to lack of time, but mostly because of the lack of content... Maybe I got struck by some winterish very gloomy mood and I dislike everything. But let's see what can we put on the table...

I know there are other high budget and more marketable titles announced for December, but the only that I thought it's worthy to stop to is the already delayed "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish". Unfortunately even here, as in many of the recent animations, and not only, the trailer gave me the impression that the coffee or sugar consumption at Hollywood is exaggerated. This hyperactive pacing is tiring, and the density of light jokes present in anything that has a touch of comedy doesn't help. What follows is not far from that...

In January, we get the same hyper-glicemic rhythm in (apparently) a completely different genre - the next movie by Guy Ritchie: "Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre". Given the way the trailer goes, starring Jason Statham as the "classic" lead, if you wouldn't know it's a movie by Guy Ritchie, your chance of guessing would probably be higher than the chance of getting some snow this winter. Anyway, this wouldn't be a problem if so much of the action wouldn't be spoiled already. Like that, what's left to see is only if there's enough room left to expect to see more.

The fact that for February I didn't manage to find anything more promising than "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" says a lot. Between this and "Cocaine Bear", well.. maybe I shouldn't think twice on it.

March: no escape from sequels. At least the trailer for "John Wick: Chapter 4" looks more exotic than "John Wick: Chapter 3". And the hope that will be more close to "John Wick: Chapter 2" stays alive.

I'll move over April and stop in May at the single entry of this list that I can say I'm looking forward to watch, even though again there's not something new: "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3". I still think, James Gunn, the director + writer, is pretty much the only one who managed to move out of the typical Marvel line and to provide some distinct personal touch, the first two GotG being in my opinion by far the best movies out of the most profitable = commercial super-hero universe. On the other hand I can't say the trailer looks very promising this time, but well, as above, the hope remains.

That's it. Maybe the summer will be more fresh.

Summer-Fall 2022 Movie Preview

I'm not in the best period healthwise lately, and therefore, not in my best mood to restart blogging. However, I decided to make the traditional quicklist for this period of what's announced for big screen release during the the next half of year. As in my last enumeration of this type I'll go for the ultra-selective variant = let's solve this quickly.

As much as I liked the return to the "Jurassic World", as bad it seemed for me the sequel in "Fallen Kingdom". Still, I'd check on the list the third part of the reboot too = "Jurassic World Dominion" - announced for June. After all, if the expectations are low... who knows ;)

Also in June we have "Lightyear". How did we arrive from the "Toy Story" universe to what we see in the trailer seems to be a mistery deeper than the deep space itself. But I'm sure we'll get the answer in the movie (if it doesn't get swollen by some black hole).

In July, with a feeling of a mix between Tarantino and John Wick (hopefully closer to the second of the series), we'll get to see "Bullet Train". Surprisingly maybe, despite the clear looks of an action movie (with lots of action), this is apparently based on a novel. A Japanese one, as the setting.

I don't see anything else besides "Luck" to worth mentioning for August. Not that I'm expecting much from this one, but since I didn't write for quite a while about an animation, I thought it might be a good idea to check two in the current list.

"Don't Worry Darling", to be released in September, has a promising trailer, which doesn't spoil much of the story. That's the good part. However, I found some red flags looking at the screenwriters team, where the previous work is either in the light rom-com area, ranging towards "Titanic II". Hopefully the current one won't sink...

Unfortunately October-November are a bit blank at the moment regarding released trailers, and I don't have any of the titles announced on my waiting list anyway, so we'll stop here. Maybe we'll have a better "harvest" closer to the winter season.

Winter-Spring 2021-2022 Movie Preview

I didn't want to close the year with the last month's entry, but I'm still not in the mood to restart the usual blog reviews. However, a short preview entry was the usual choice for this period, and that I can do, but I won't split it in two this time. There's not much to choose from anyway...

Now, in December, I won't stop on Matrix Resurrections and neither on the third iteration of the third reincarnation of Spider-Man. By far the most interesting title in the upcoming weeks seems to be "Nightmare Alley". Guillermo del Toro is one of the directors who still has a personal touch, and you can spot it already from the trailer. Besides that, lately I tend to have more confidence in movies based on books than on productions with an original script. Even though that doesn't guarantee for which characters is decided that's more "correct" to be changed, or what action or dialogue to be adjusted to fit the current tendencies. After all, well.. that's more important than what the writer had in mind. But let's not get lost now in examples.. Hopefully this won't join the list.

For January I'll indulge myself to be subjective (nope, I wasn't earlier). Wes Craven might be long gone to other planes of universe, but I still have hope for the fifth "Scream". We have the same directors couple as we did in "Ready or Not", which was refreshing in a horror genre that's haunted for too long by too many ghosts and spirits. Besides that, most important, Sidney (Neve Campbell) is back ;) As I said, I'm subjective on this one.

In February, what got my eye is "The Outfit". I have a vague feeling that it's gonne be built on the same lines with "Bad Times at the El Royale" or with (the less inspired) "The Hateful Eight" of Tarantino, but different from these both. We'll see...

Starting from March the options reduce a lot (at least looking at released trailers), but from everything in the super-here genre there's one I'd rather not ignore completely - "The Batman" - at least for its cinematic experience potential that it had since Tim Burton to this day. Whatever reincarnation number it might have reached...

There's nothing to mentionf for April, at least not now, and in May the only title to catch some attention is another reboot - "Top Gun: Maverick". Honestly... it always seemed a miracle the fact that the '86 "Top Gun" got so popular. The script was at best mediocre. What saved that movie was the director's genius, but Tony Scott is unfortunately gone. We'll see if the army of screenwriters hired by Tom Cruise can compensate for that now.

Well, this was sort of bitter, I guess :).. But that's pretty much how I felt 2021 in general. Maybe it will change next year. Until then, all I can say is: Happy Holidays! :)

Summer-Fall 2021 Movie Preview Part 2

I avoided last time to mention future box-office hits, favoring some titles that seemed more entitled to steal a couple of hours from the viewer's life. Lately, at least for me, it became harder to allocate time for watching a movie, so I care more if it's worth doing it. Therefore, despite the "classic" preview split = part 1 - summer, part 2 - fall, I decided to ignore what's currently announced for September = "Shang-Chi" (yet another Marvel movie), "Venom" the second (still featuring Marvel in its credits) and "No Time to Die" aka Bond the 25th, and instead to move back to August. Because, since my last entry, there's a new trailer out for this month - "Reminiscence" - which looks more promising than all the three above (and yep, I know I'm biased :P).

Risking to contradict the initial idea above, in October we have "Dune". Honestly, most of the cast seems miscasted to me, and my feel is that this won't surpass my preference for the mini-series produced in 2000 + mostly its sequel in 2003, which completes that adaptation so well that any other version limited to the first part only probably won't feel complete. I couldn't skip though mentioning one of the biggest "SciFi" events of the year. Besides that, Denis Villeneuve as director might count in this equation, although both "Arrival" and "Blade Runner 2049" were below my expectations.

"Ghostbusters: Afterlife" is scheduled for a November release. I've never been to fond of this series, and I skipped the latest reboot. The trailer here, however, has a more retro feeling, which resembles a bit the feel of "Super 8", another production that can make you nostalgic of the '80s. Besides that, it's probably interesting from the direction perspective - Jason Reitman, the son of Ivan Reitman, who was behind the original "Ghostbusters".

With that I'm closing the series of titles that seem worthy of attention for the next half of the year (at least what has a trailer out). I'd say it already looks better than the previous half ;)

Summer-Fall 2021 Movie Preview Part 1

I didn't watch any movie for something like three weeks, and I doubt I'll have time during next one. Which already doesn't look good, lacking other "drug" to bring balance to the mind while alternating between a critical deadline + some neverending dental issues. So I told myself to at least deal with the mid-year traditional entries, short format, and check what looks promising for this summer-fall season.

In June, "Monuments" is a release that seems to get a bit out from the box-office summer hits area, where typically we have lots of actions and explosions and the subject is very thin. I'm not really fond of comedies either, especially when there's a romantic angle, but apparently my subconscious won this round...

"The Green Knight" is telling an episode from the Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table saga. It's an episode that in its original version, unlike others, has a less dramatic ending, which makes it somehow less promissing for screen if you stick to the classic story. But, as in many other cases, the movie might change the story a bit... We'll see in July.

I was thinking to let the summer pass without referring to anything in the comics/super-hero area that moved, for a while already, from overrated to hyperrated, or whatever's worse than that. There are though some small exceptions, and the most notable is James Gunn who managed to make "Guardians of the Galaxy" (both 1 and 2) to stand out, comparing with the classic Marvel pattern. It's just something different. Maybe we'll see this in August also for DC Comics in the reboot of "The Suicide Squad".

Lasam toamna pe data viitoare. Cand o fi asta...

Winter-Spring 2020-2021 Movie Preview Part 2

If last time I was saying there's not much choiche for the movies in the following three months, this time I could directly make a link to the summer preview post, because next spring is filled mostly with re-schedulings already checked then.

What I found new for the month of March is again in the indies realm. Maybe I'm a bit subjective here, as somebody who doesn't sleep at normal hours, but definitely "Come True" looked more interesting than a couple other more mainstream alternatives.

When the second trailer for "No Time to Die" was announced, the release was planned for November. Meanwhile it was again postponed for April. And since besides this and "A Quiet Place Part II" there's not much to choose from for that month, I stuck to the option with a trailer I didn't already post this summer.

Considering the current titles planned for May, even though it might seem something else, we'll stick to the same SciFi genre with "F9". The main differences from Bond are the smaller number of iterations and the more intense soap opera feeling.

I'm closing now the 2020 entries. I'll take a longer break from blogging this year. I'm not in the best mood for writing, I don't have subjects either, but more important not enough time. Maybe next year.. Until then, what I can wish is peaceful holidays ;)

Winter-Spring 2020-2021 Movie Preview Part 1

I'll keep "the tradition" on that when the winter begins to throw out a preview entry, despite the fact there's not much to choose from for this. Besides, I don't have another subject to write about :-) Besides, this time we can be a bit more optimistic about the release in the next time period... especially considering that some distributors got tired of reprograming the dates and started accepting also the online option.

The majority of the movies set for December are low budget indies. Out of the titles I found about, the most interesting option seemed to be "Archenemy", despite some ratings after a festival pre-release that aren't so encouraging. The subject though is part of an alternative niche to the classic superhero, a niche where I had multiple fine experiences ("Defendor", "Jeeg Robot", "Colossal" or even "Kick-Ass"). However, I don't have much hope for this one, but we'll see...

"Chaos Walking", set for January, seems to be somewhere between SciFi and western, a combination that unlike the previous, with slight exceptions ("Prospect"), never was very fortunate. The director though, Doug Liman, has some good movies, among which one of the best SciFi movies in the last decade - "Edge of Tomorrow". But again, we'll see...

It might look like bad taste to release a movie about a pandemic in the middle of a pandemic, even though the disease is quite a different one, but out of all what February promises "Little Fish" is by far the most interesting title.

Next time we'll try to find something for the spring too. Let's hope we find some..

Summer-Fall 2020 Movie Preview - Part 2

As usual, I'm writing this entry "live" = when I'll be done with this sentence I'll still don't know if I manage to find three movies to be released this Fall + coming packed with a trailer. And since it will probably take me quite a bit to find them, I won't spend more with the intro, even though I foresee a very brief entry...

Well, September went easy. We have "A Quiet Place Part II", which hopefully won't be postponed again. For who didn't see Part I, it wasn't exactly a masterpiece, but it was still something original in the horror/dystopia genre. Let's see if the sequel stays as fresh.

In October we have a relatively generous list of titles announced: "BIOS" - a post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi drama starring Tom Hanks and directed by Miguel Sapochnik ("GoT", "Repo Men"), "Death on the Nile" - yet another adaptation of Agatha Christie's work made by Kenneth Branagh, "The Witches" - o re-boot Roald Dahl's booke, directed by Robert Zemeckis, 30 years after the original with Angelica Huston, sequels for "Halloween" and "G.I. Joe", but none of these with a released trailer, and probably neither very certain of sticking to the planned date. Which brings us to...

November - when again we're fortunate to have a re-scheduling for "No Time to Die". Honestly... I'm not sure I need all fingers on one hand to count the James Bond movies that I found to be ok, but it's better than nothing...

I said that this is gonna be a brief entry. Well, I'm keeping my word. Let's see if I find something more interesting for next week...

Summer-Fall 2020 Movie Preview - Part 1

I have the feel that what I'm doing now is like opening a shop of winter coats in the middle of Sahara, with an ad-sign near writing: "There will be a next ice age!". But after all, the nights are cold in the desert, so... keeping the analogy (probably totally inappropriate), maybe we'll have some movie releases this year, no matter if in cinema or directly on streaming. There are finished productions after all, even though there's nothing certain about their premiere date. Anyway, I decided to stick with my usual timing for these entries set at the calendar of seasons change. After all, I'm doing this as a short entry since quite some time with just 3 titles. But let's see if we find that many in what's left for this summer...

Disney seems to be decided to keep the release date for "Artemis Fowl" in June, using its own streaming platform. We'll see how fast will it move beyond that. About the movie... not even "Harry Potter" was on my favorites list, so even less the bunch of replicas in the same area of fantasy coming in a wave started more than 15 years ago. There are exceptions, but just a few, and I doubt "Artemis Fowl" will get there. But it's also about taste. I prefer the "classic" genre of fantasy = LoTR, Merlin, Stardust... anyway, again, we don't have many options for this summer.

However, in July - not postponed yet, we have "Tenet", one of the most expected movies of this year. Christopher Nolan returns to SciFi, and even more, to time travel/parallel universes. For me, but again it's a matter of taste + some personal obsessions ;), it's enough to have a good movie in this area to save a couple months with no titles.

In August the number of movies that didn't have their release date postponed rises, or better said, the movies that had their date postponed for August. We have "Wonder Woman 1984", "The New Mutants" and "Antebellum" as main titles. Since I'm not really into movies, X-Men and any derived stuff is pretty much the same, let's stick with the last one. There's not much in the trailer, but among the rest we have a hint here too of a time travel story. Now... nobody says that a release date can't be postponed twice, but let's be optimistiv.

Ok, so for the Summer months we managed to find something. Let's see how we can deal with the Fall.. next time ;)

Winter-Spring 2019-2020 Movie Preview - Part 2

As usual, there aren't many title yet announced for next Spring, so there's not much room for a selection. To get into the subject, for next March we have a remake of "Mulan", live motion this time. The first trailer doesn't say much, but given that it's a remake I doubt any spoilers were required.

In April we move off from the usual "X-Men" line in "The New Mutants", with a much darker look, so probably a bit more mature. The only part that seems to connect the two is the Marvel logo. I say that's promising, or at least interesting.

Finally, in May we have the already postponed released date for "Artemis Fowl", a potential successor of "Harry Potter" = the first episode that moves to the big screen based on another series of books in the same genre.

We end, therefore, this round of preview = back to difficult stuff = let's see what subject I manage to find out for the next entry ;)

Winter-Spring 2019-2020 Movie Preview - Part 1

I'll make permanent this "brief" version for previews, with just one entry per month. Not that I'd like to get rid of it quicker, but because there's really not much choice for more titles that show some promise. Maybe I'm getting too old, grumpy & picky, but well... that's life.

For December I tried to find something else that's more interesting than the last episode of the "Star Wars" saga, but I couldn't (really, I watched 12 more trailers having their release set for next month until I gave up). And unfortunately not because "The Rise of Skywalker" is very interesting - given that there are enough spoilers, and even seemingly more enough cliches in it. I said that I'm old, grumpy & picky. But let's keep some hope...

January has a better offer, but by far the title that seems to be the choice to watch is "The Gentlemen", or finally Guy Ritchie's return to the genre that made him a great director.

I gave up on horrors since some time. A while ago a director was saying in an interview that this is the most accessible genre that allows you the largest boundaries on creativity (ironically this was in a "making of" for a very poor movie). There are some studios that got specialized more or less on this niche (Blumhouse, Screen Gems, etc.), which keep repeating a couple recipes where they just change some ingredient. In February we have "Fantasy Island", which seems though to bring at least a setting that's a bit different. Not much, but at least we move out of the ghosts and other evil area which is lately beyond overused.

Back soon, cu sezonul de primavara...

Summer-Fall 2018 Movie Preview - Part 2

So, given the lack of reviews for this year, I'm continuing with the previews for the next fall. In September we have a reboot for "The Predator". No Schwarzenegger, but Shane Black directing ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", "Iron Man 3"), so might not be that bad...

"A Simple Favor" seems to have all the ingredients for an average thriller where you have all chances to guess out of the trailer who's the killer. However, it's actually the trailer which made me add this to the list ( or maybe Anna Kendrick + Blake Lively in the same movie :) )...

Let's admit that Eli Roth ("Cabin Fever", "Hostel", "Knock Knock") doesn't seem like the director that you'll hire for a children's move. Therefore, it might result in something actually good, giving some chance to find something a bit more serious in "The House with a Clock in Its Walls" than in the last decade of fantasy that didn't move out from the typical JK Rowling simplicity (not even with "The Hobbit"...). I'm still waiting for an adaptation of "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman, but it doesn't seem to come soon...

October is poor in released trailers by the current time. The only that seems a bit more interesting is "Venom". Or a marketing move from Marvel & associates, betting on a super-villain movie from time to time (especially after sort of successfully testing the ground with "Deadpool").

Since neither November doesn't have much yet besides some video announcements for Christmas movies, I stopped at just one of these for closing today's entry. Probably the most interesting out of all = I don't remember having any decent adaptation of "The Nutcracker" by now, so maybe we'll see it this year.

Summer-Fall 2018 Movie Preview - Part 1

It's good that we enter June, so I can use my failsafe = going over what's announced for summer-fall 2018, otherwise again I wouldn't have had much of a subject... So, let's see...

Let's start with something more mainstream - there's a new part/episode of "Jurassic Park/World" coming out - "The Fallen Kingdom". Despite the critics, I enjoyed the previous one. The screenwriters are the same, so there's some hope...

Leigh Whannell is probably mostly known for "Saw" and some other horrors. Now we have a SciFi (although it might get to horror in the end...): "Upgrade". The subject - AI controlled implants - is not really 100%, but definitely not the most used one.

"Under the Silver Lake" seems a sort of David Lynch movie in a light/comedy version. Nothing more to say...

In July we're moving back to mainstream with "Ant-Man and the Wasp", the sequel of "Ant-Man" without the Wasp (well, sort of...). Otherwise said: yet another Marvel movie.

The "Skyscraper" trailer reminded me a bit of "Die Hard" - the first. I'm still not getting my hopes so high on something to compare with that.

I always found "Mission Impossible" to be more clever than the "James Bond" secret agent version known by everybody. I hope I won't change my opinion after "Fallout".

In August SciFi rules. Well... SciFi or "SciFi". Guess what kind "The Meg" is?...

"A-X-L" generated a "Chappie" deja vu, although not much on the "vu" part because it was so bashed by critics that I skipped it. Maybe is not the case here.

I left the best to the end. "Kin" seems to me by far the most interesting movie in all this enumeration. Honestly is not the brightest summer in terms of new releases. Either that or I'm way too busy and getting too picky with allocating time for a movie... Let's see next time what the fall brings.

Winter-Spring 2017-2018 Movie Preview - Part 2

Let's quickly move also through what's announced for Spring 2018, since we anyway don't have too many trailers released yet. At least for me, if there is any animation announced for next year that could compete with "Early Man", that's "Isle of Dogs" - out in March 2018, written and directed by Wes Anderson. Instead of more details I guess it's enough to enumerate: "Fantastic Mr. Fox", "Moonrise Kingdom", "Grand Budapest Hotel". Well, to be fair.. it's probably obvious that the movie we have here doesn't have the same target age as a typical Pixar/Dreamworks animation, and not even as Aardman stuff, speaking about "Early Man". But let's cut the chit-chat... here's the trailer:

"Pacific Rim: Uprising" doesn't seem to have much left (except the main topic) from the first "Pacific Rim". The director, writers, cast, all are changed. My expectations are even lower than what I had for the first movie, but there I was so surprised about the outcome that looking back I can't really explain how that happened. I could hope the same for here, but still... back then we had a Guillermo del Toro behind the whole thing, here...

The first thing that pops into my mind about "Ready Player One" is that's the first SciFi made by Spielberg since "War of the Worlds". The second thing is that I really, really, really hope it won't be like "War of the Worlds" :| ...

"Rampage" looks like a sort of King Kong meets Sharknado meets Insert-your-favorite-giant-creature-here. Or the type of summer movie that doesn't seem to be so bankable and it gets a release date at some point where there's not much competition announced (April in this case).

We end in May with the next "Avengers: Infinity Wars". I'm not gonna spend more time to repeat again my opinion on super-hero movies, especially the ones Marvel releases (unfortunately there was nothing else announced for this month).

Winter-Spring 2017-2018 Movie Preview - Part 1

Without delaying also with an intro a post that I should've written 3 weeks ago, let's just start this preview round with "The Shape of Water". Already having an early December limited release, the movie is the most recent by Guillermo del Toro. Based on the first reviews it seems to get a bit more close to "Pan's Labyrinth"/"Pacific Rim"/"Hellboy", otherwise said the better times, at least compared to the last movie he wrote and directed - "Crimson Peak", which I'd rather avoid remembering.

Obviously, the title poster for this month is "Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi". But more about this one in a future entry.

"Downsizing" is the most recent movie written and directed by Alexander Payne ("Sideways", "Descendants", "Nebraska"). At a first sight it seems to be a turn of the director towards something else more close to a light SciFi, compared with the previous line-up. Although if we think a bit, and we consider that in all the previous the location had a major role...

We begin January 2018 with "Proud Mary". What seems to be the female alternative to "John Wick". Hopefully it won't be as messy as the last attempt = "Atomic Blonde"...

Even though Aardman had some other cinema releases, the last animation directed by Nick Park - "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - was in 2005 (5 years after "Chicken Run"). He's finally back: "Early Man". The only thing I'm afraid of is that I might expect too much after all these years, although the trailer doesn't look bad.

"Day of the Dead: Bloodline" is the second remake we see for one of the George Romero's classic zombie-horrors. The first was "Dawn of the Dead" in Zack Snyder's version from 2004, and that wasn't bad at all. Here, however, I have some doubts, the guy in charge - Hector Vicens - not having much experience with directing (not that Snyder had any CV in 2004...).

I noticed lately a drastically decrease in my appetite for horrors. However, I'll close the winter preview with something that caught my eye and is still in this area. In February we'll have the release for "Winchester". There's a house somewhere in the U.S. that was continuously constructed for several tens of years and finally left unfinished, currently reaching the status of a tourist attraction as one of the weirdest buildings in the world. The owner was the widow of the well-known rifle manufacturer with the same name. So, the background story of the movie is real, but probably heavily romanticized. In any case, seems to have something different in it...

Summer-Fall 2017 Movie Preview - Part 2

If the summer was so & so (and more so...) for what's released, this fall is one of the strongest in the latest years. So let's see what's bringing...

September comes with "American Assassin". All I hope for is that the trailer doesn't give the whole story - maybe is a bit more than a radicalized revenge, and well... the usual: hoping also for less cliche... If it manages these, looks like a good thriller.

Let's keep the prefix, let's keep the genre, but let's change a bit the feeling towards something more lighthearted in "American Made". Where I think I trust a bit more the outcome.

And to give this month completely to this niche, we end it with "The Foreigner", a book adaptation with a subject sort of similar with the first above, but a bit different as context - a Chinese vs. IRA. I think I prefer this version... less sensitive, and more... :) exotic. Besides that, if you didn't see Jackie Chan outside comedy roles, you should - it's worth it ;)...

In October we have the title of the Fall - "Blade Runner 2049". I don't think there's need for much more intro, besides maybe that we have Denis Villeneuve on directing ("Incendies", "Prisoners", "Enemy", "Sicario"), who I guess was a better choice Ridley Scott based on what I've seen in the latest years...

Missing disaster movies? "Geostorm" is the first cinema entry where Dean Devlin tries directing. Who is Dean Devlin? - Roland Emmerich's half on the production of almost all stuff that guy released in his beginnings, until he got infected with the Michael Bay syndrome (= more explosions => more cash flow): Stargate" (the movie), "Independence Day", "Godzilla", "The Patriot". Well, now Emmerich is not involved, but still I'm not sure I trust this even so...

"Happy Death Day" is the horror version of "Groundhog Day". I have to admit that the idea is not totally unoriginal. Beside, Christopher Landon (director/writer) also wrote "Disturbia". Well... he also wrote a bunch of sequels for "Paranormal Activity", but "Disturbia" was nice ;) - and here as well as there (check "Rear Window") we have some sort of adapted source, so...

"Wonder Woman" was a bit disappointing despite the favorable critics, and also I think one of the most "Marvel movies" in the DC Comics portfolio. Even so, I still have some hope that "Justice League" will stick to the less dumb action/more solid story ratio, which was a bit better for DC. Anyway, I think Zack Snyder directing, with all the flaws he previously had, is at a different level than Patty Jenkins.

That's it... for now ;)

Summer-Fall 2017 Movie Preview

We've past the half of the month, which is probably a record for delaying this... So let's get it started until June's not totally over...

Recently released, "It Comes at Night" seems to be one of the best ranked horrors lately. The trailer doesn't say much, but from what it says it seems at least we don't have an overused subject... (=taking a break from ghost & evil spirits for once).

Changing with 180 degrees, we reach to "Despicable Me" episode 3. No other introduction needed...

"Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End" have more in common than Simon Pegg. To be precise, also Edgar Wright, as director and co-writer. Going solo at the end of June with "Baby Driver". Let's see how much of the above is kept...

"Spiderman" comes home in July in the ... third version/actor in the last 15 years. Cash flow, nothing more to say...

"Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" is 2nd to my top of the list for this summer. Luc Besson didn't release a pure SciFi since "The Fifth Element". I don't expect to reach that level, but if we're at least up to where "Lucy" was I'm fine.

Talking about the fifth element, I didn't see Bruce Willis since quite a while in a decent movie. I'm not really expecting that from "First Kill" either, but let's wait and see...

My top of the list comes this August - "The Dark Tower". If it doesn't sound familiar already, in brief it's the magnum opus of Stephen King. What's left to be said is that what's released this year is most probably just the first part...

"Kidnap" is a thriller that looks relatively average. I don't know why though, but the trailer reminded me of "Taken" (well, in a lighter version :)...)

Finally, "Wind River" seems to be close to the top of the genre. It seems to me that Taylor Sheridan, who also wrote "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water", slowly becomes a sort of Alexander Payne, but for the thriller niche.

Next week, movie in the fall...