In Theaters: November 16, 2018

There are three releases to talk about this week.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Fan2stic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

How many fantastic beasts do you think will actually be featured in this movie?  Is it justifiable to refer to this franchise as Fantastic Beasts?  I'm not so sure.

I have very little idea what this movie is about.  Grindelwald is the bad guy.  I think Grindelwald's evil plan is to take over the world.  Newt has to track him down.  Why?  It's very unclear.  Maybe one of his fantastic beasts is a fantastic bloodhound.

It's more Harry Potter, that's the main point that J.K. Rowling is going for here.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is rated PG-13 for some sequences of fantasy action.

Instant Family

It's working title throughout production was "Forgettable Comedy #2378"

Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne play a middle-aged married couple who get interested in foster care.  They take in the girl in the middle of the poster who comes with two younger siblings.  I think the teenage girl is the one from Transformers 5.

This movie is supposed to be funny but it doesn't look funny.

Instant Family is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual material, language and some drug references.

Green Book (limited)

Mahershala Ali plays a pianist who goes on tour and Viggo Mortensen plays the simple man he hires to be his driver.  The two are from different worlds and become unlikely friends.  It's based on a true story and I think it looks kind of interesting.

Green Book is rated PG-13 for thematic content, language including racial epithets, smoking, some violence and suggestive material.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: November 9, 2018

This week we have just one wide release to talk about.

Dr. Seuss' The Grinch

So I think it looks funny.

First of all, it's animated, as God intended.  Jim Carrey is talented, but he's not talented enough to play the live-action Grinch in a way that ages well eighteen years later.  Secondly, Benedict Cumberbatch voices the Grinch.  Perfect.  I think this one could emerge as a classic.

I can't really explain my faith in this movie.  I definitely don't like everything Illumination does.  Actually, I think I dislike most of what Illumination does, but there's no denying their animation style fits like a glove for a Dr. Seuss book.  It just looks so right, visually.  Maybe that's why I'm a believer.

Dr. Seuss' The Grinch is rated PG for brief rude humor.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: November 2, 2018

This week we have two releases to talk about.

Bohemian Rhapsody

It's a movie about Queen.  Freddie Mercury in particular.  I really don't know what else to say about it.  I'm not that big into Queen.  I can tell you that Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2: X-Men United, Superman Returns, Valkyrie, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, Public Access) started directing it.  He's a pretty big deal.  But he got fired for some reason, and Dexter Fletcher (Eddie The Eagle) finished it.  He's not as big a deal, but I think it would be great if he became a big deal.  I really liked Eddie The Eagle.

Also, Rami Malek plays Freddie Mercury, so that's cool.  I'd like to see Rami Malek get more success.

Bohemian Rhapsody is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, suggestive material, drug content and language.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

I don't get it.  I don't know anything about The Nutcracker except the famous music.  I hate the art style of this movie AND the live action Beauty and the Beast, AND Maleficent, AND the new live action Cinderella they released.  It's too indulgent.  Oh, and let's not forget the live action Alice in Wonderland that kicked off this whole mess.

It's like the cinematic equivalent of those fancy air-puffed white candies that are made out of nothing, weigh nothing, and don't even taste that good, they just look fancy.

I've seen all the trailers and I have no idea what it's about.  Some little girl gets a clue to some magical world or something from her godfather.  Her godfather is black, and that makes perfect sense for the, what - 18th century setting?  Yeah.  White girls had black godfathers all the time back then I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, she gets pulled into this magical world and has to defeat the scary bad guy and save Candyland or whatever.  No idea, but that's what it looks like.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is rated PG for some mild peril.

      Big Shot Critic