In Theaters: October 27, 2017

There are THREE new wide releases this weekend.  And all three are rated R.  So much for alternative programming.

Suburbicon

Unsurprisingly, the movie written by the Coens and directed by George Clooney looks stylish!

But it's very likely form over function.  George's last film, Monuments Men, was very okay, but had a lot of difficulty resulting from tonal shifts that Clooney seemed unable to handle well.  Reviews for Suburbicon cite the same weakness.  He can do comedy, drama, or even action pretty well, but the transitions fail consistently.  It's a shame, and I hope he cracks it, because he could be a very stylish filmmaker indeed.

Suburbicon is a crime comedy set against the backdrop of a new turnkey housing development in the 1950's.  Matt Damon's family moves there and he starts to be harassed by organized crime, seemingly for falling behind on an off-the-books loan.  Expect it to be much more dramatic at times than its trailer lets on.  It's the Clooney way.

Suburbicon is rated R for violence, language and some sexuality.

Jigsaw

A franchise can be very hard to kill.  Curse you, James Wan, for being such a master of horror!

For those of you who don't know, James Wan is the undisputed king of horror right now.  His breakout film was the first Saw.  And that means I can blame him for this!  He's only involved as an executive producer, but still.

I had to look it up, and it turns out there were seven Saw movies.  That's already way too many.  Jigsaw is the villain of the Saw films, a man who sets up extremely sadistic games and traps and fates for people in an effort to get them to value life, or something.  It's pretty stupid.  And if I remember right, the Jigsaw character actually died a few movies ago.  I never saw any of the movies, but I picked up details here and there over the years.  Anyway, Jigsaw is apparently upset that his franchise hasn't been relevant since 2010.  Don't tell him this, but it hasn't really been relevant since 2004.

Jigsaw is rated R for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, and for language.

Thank You for Your Service

PTSD: The Movie.

But really though, this movie is trying to take a very serious look at the lasting emotional and mental damage that can come from service in war.  Shockingly, this movie will likely not get very political.  It's about the soldiers' lives after they get home.

Thank You for Your Service is rated R for strong violent content, language throughout, some sexuality, drug material and brief nudity.

      Big Shot Critic