In Theaters: January 30th, 2015

There are THREE wide releases this weekend.

Black or White

I don't really like Octavia Spencer.  I find her kind of annoying.  But she won that darn Oscar in 2012 and when you win an Oscar you just keep showing up in movies whether or not people want to see you.  Kevin Costner, on the other hand, I like.  And what's-his-name is in this movie too, and I like him.

What's-his-name*

Black or White is about a custody battle for a young girl fought between a maternal grandfather (Costner) and a paternal grandmother (Spencer).  It's a drama.

Black or White is rated PG-13 on appeal for brief strong language, thematic material involving drug use and drinking, and for a fight.

The "on appeal" part means it was originally rated R but the studio appealed for a new rating without changing any content.

The Loft

A very interesting premise for a thriller that you could only execute with an R-rating, unfortunately.

In The Loft, five wealthy men that are dishonest in their marriage relationships build a Loft style apartment and use it for their extramarital affairs.  They are each given a key and a code for the security system and they swear each other to secrecy.

But then (wouldn't you know it) a woman turns up dead in the Loft!

The Loft is rated R for sexual content, nudity, bloody violence, language and some drug use.

Project Almanac

Teenage leads you've never heard of, found footage style filmmaking, science fiction elements, looks really stupid, a PG-13 rating - this movie is Earth to Echo's older brother.  It looks really dumb.  And I hate found footage.

Some kids find plans for a time machine, build one and use it, and things start going wrong.

Earth to Echo - I mean Project Almanac is rated PG-13 for some language and sexual content.

And again, it looks really dumb.  Seriously dumb.

      Big Shot Critic

*What's-his-name is Anthony Mackie

In Theaters: January 23rd, 2015

There are THREE wide releases this weekend.

The Boy Next Door

Basically a movie about the living hell that comes as a direct result of a moment of promiscuity.

Jennifer Lopez is a married woman with a family and she experiences a lapse in good judgment and a tryst with the boy next door.  She regrets it and tries to move past it while he becomes obsessed with her.  You see the problem.

The Boy Next Door is rated R for starring John Corbett.

Okay it's actually rated R for violence, sexual content/nudity and language.

Mortdecai

David Koepp has been writing blockbusters for decades now, but every now and then he sneaks his way into the director's chair and has a go at it.

I don't know if audiences will really turn up for this one.

Johnny Depp plays Mortdecai, an international art dealer.  He is asked by the British government to track down a stolen painting and recover it for them.  It's an action comedy.

It seems idiotic to not shoot for a PG-13 rating on a movie like this, but in any case Mortdecai is rated R for some language and sexual material.

Strange Magic

George Lucas had an idea for a story.  A movie was made from that story, and it is being released on Friday under the title Strange Magic.

I guess it's about a bunch of different mythical creatures who all get wrapped up in a conflict over a magic potion.  At least the animation looks really good.  And it's the only new release this weekend that isn't rated R.

Strange Magic is rated PG for some action and scary images.

      Big Shot Critic

Red Army (Honorable Mention)

This is a limited release documentary.  It's a look at the Cold War through the lens of ice hockey, and the "Red Army" hockey team that dominated it for decades.

Honorable mention because Werner Herzog is an executive producer, and it looks downright fascinating besides.

It will be in two theaters in New York and one in Los Angeles on Friday.  It will play somewhere in the Phoenix area starting February 13th.

Red Army is rated PG for thematic material and language.

In Theaters: January 16th, 2015

There are THREE wide releases this weekend.

Blackhat

Director Michael Mann has a very unique feel to his movies.  They all feel very grounded and real, almost like you're watching a documentary.  At least they have in the past.  If you like that sort of thing, and a thriller about taking down a hacker/international criminal sounds good to you, then this is your movie.  Blackhat is likely to be the ultimate hacker movie.  That's how Michael Mann rolls.

And it's got Thor!

Blackhat is rated R for violence and some language.

Paddington

I realize the poster says Christmas last year, but the date was changed only recently and the posters were not.  It actually comes out on Friday, I promise.

From the very beginning I've felt good vibes about this movie.  It's a very British children's book and this is a very British film.  They sort of have a way with children's stories, don't they?  There was a whole bit about that in the opening of the London Olympics in 2012.

Paddington is based on Paddington Bear, a story of a bear who ends up in London and is taken in by a kind family.  The main conflict in this version comes when a taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) wants to add Paddington to her collection!

Count on this one to be good.  Early reviews are very positive.  This is one I will likely sneak off and go see.

Paddington is rated PG for mild action and rude humor.

The Wedding Ringer

Kevin Hart is still a major comedic force.

The Wedding Ringer is about a groom who has no best man so he hires one.  He hires Kevin Hart to be his best man.  I'm not sure how that concept alone can support a feature length movie.

The Wedding Ringer is rated R for crude and sexual content, language throughout, some drug use and brief graphic nudity.

Wow.  That is a very hard R-rating for a movie that advertises itself as a goofy comedy.

American Sniper (Expanding)

It's very common from late autumn into early spring for smaller films to get limited runs in just a few theaters and then expand to a wide release after a few weeks.  Mostly this is because these are all awards contenders and this is the awards season for films.  I originally set out to only cover films that go straight to wide release, but I can deviate from that as I please, of course, because this is my blog.

American Sniper is the true story of the life of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in American military history.  It profiles the full effect of war, right down to the effect it has on your family life.

The widow of Chris Kyle has seen the film and appreciates it quite a lot, even saying that watching Bradley Cooper on screen was almost like seeing her husband on screen.

American Sniper is rated R for strong and disturbing war violence, and language throughout including some sexual references.

      Big Shot Critic

What do you guys think?  Should I profile limited releases that go wide?  Just awards contenders?  WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!!??  Leave a comment.  Thanks!

In Theaters: January 9, 2015

There is only ONE wide release this weekend.

Taken 3

Did you know that Liam Neeson supposedly turned down the role of James Bond in the early 90's because he wasn't interested in doing action movies?  Think about that for a minute.

There really isn't that much to say here about Taken 3.  I will say if you haven't seen the first Taken then go watch it, it's really good.  I haven't seen the second one.

Also, I do recall when Taken 2 was announced that Liam Neeson was asked if he would ever do a Taken 3.  He replied, "That would just be bad parenting!"  Of course referring to the fact that the original title, Taken, refers to the kidnapped daughter in the first movie.  They say money has a way of changing people, and for Taken 3 Liam Neeson joined the $20,000,000 club.  Only a few actors have been paid that much for a movie.  No actor has ever been paid more than that up front (In the famous example of Robert Downey Jr. and The Avengers he negotiated for some back end portion of profits).

Anyway Taken 3 is here.  Don't expect it to change your life, but if you like action movies this one probably won't disappoint you.

Taken 3 is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and for brief strong language.

      Big Shot Critic