In Theaters: October 13, 2017

There are FOUR new wide releases coming out this Friday the thirteenth.  Only one of them is a horror movie.

The Foreigner

I actually saw this movie at a test screening in July.  It's weird.

Jackie Chan plays a chinaman living a quiet life in London.  He owns and manages a restaurant and is raising his teenage daughter.  On an errand to pick up a dress for a school dance, his daughter gets caught in an explosion.  She dies and he is injured.  It's actually a very effective emotional moment in the movie.  For the record, this is not a spoiler.  It's in the trailer for the movie.

The bombing is quickly linked to the IRA.  And the Chinaman learns on the news that there is an Irish politician who is a former member, and current liaison, for the IRA.  I don't know much about the politics of the British Isles, but according to this movie the IRA does in fact operate on some level in such official channels.  Anyway, this politician is played by real life Irishman, Pierce Brosnan.

So it's pretty much Chinaman versus Irishman for most of the movie from there.  Jackie Chan's efforts to get information from the politician escalate from over the phone requests, to in person visits, to eventual violence.  And this is one reason why I say this movie is weird: the Chinaman has zero evidence to suggest that the Irishman knows any of the details he is asking for.  Yet he persists.  The story loses a lot of value there for me, because I don't see why a real person would behave that way.

The other reason I say this movie is weird is because it treats its audience as experts on English-Irish relations, and particularly the IRA.  It can be a little difficult to follow at times for this reason.

But the action scenes were really good.

The Foreigner is rated R for violence, language and some sexual material.

Happy Death Day

You know how I am about horror movies.  This one might be okay.

So a girl wakes up, goes about her day, and gets murdered at the end.  Then she wakes up again just like before, goes about the same day as before, and gets murdered again.  Repeat.  She has to find out why it's happening and how to stop it.  It's basically Edge of Tomorrow as a horror film.  Kind of an interesting idea, I must admit.

Happy Death Day is rated PG-13 for violence/terror, crude sexual content, language, some drug material and partial nudity.

Marshall

Chadwick Boseman has cornered the market on biopics of black men.  And that's okay with me.

Thurgood Marshall was the first black Supreme Court justice.  This movie centers around one of his court cases before that.  This historical drama looks like it has a pretty modern attitude.  I might actually go see it.

Marshall is rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexuality, violence and some strong language.

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women

Shamelessly riding on the coat tails of Wonder Woman, comes this film about the character's creator.

Bottom line, this guy had a wife and a live-in mistress.  He was sick.  Sometimes good things come from bad places.  But this movie is attempting to celebrate the twisted origins.  I would steer clear.

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women is rated R for strong sexual content including brief graphic images, and language.

      Big Shot Critic