We are already a few weeks into the 2013 movie season, but I wanted to take an opportunity this week to talk about the films on the schedule before we hit the summer blockbuster season. Great Stories will be previewing Hollywood’s offerings every month on this blog, and it is genuinely a fun subject for us (as we are very big movie fans).
The post Christmas holiday movie schedule is traditionally known as a dumping ground for films that studios either could not fit into their summer/fall plans, or films that the studio does not have a lot of confidence in for one reason or another. It is generally a time when the industry is talking about Oscar nominations and awards, and even re-releasing the supposed year’s best films to audiences that may have missed the first time around. We aren’t so impressed by Oscar nominations and all the hoopla over here at GS. We like to keep all of the fawning and glory-seeking to that Hollywood crowd. What we are about over here is enjoying two hours for the $10 movie ticket price we just paid. That can be had with movies that would not garner Oscar nods too (who are the people who decide who gets nominated anyway?). That all being said, I have found that it is this time of year that I most look forward to in the movie release schedule…..movies that have not been over-hyped! Hey, we take a chance, and we may be surprised by what we find!? So, without further delay, here are the movies we have our eyes on for the remainder of January.
January 18th
Last Stand (Lionsgate): It is Ah-nuld’s return to a leading role on the big screen as he and Johnny Knoxville take on some undesirables who invade their quiet southwestern town. Cue the explosions!
Broken City (Fox): Mark “I don’t talk with animals” Wahlberg and Russell Crow star in a thriller about a private eye who investigates some marital infidelity for the mayor and uncovers a real estate scandal.
Mama (Universal): Guillermo del Toro produces this horror picture about two little girls who disappeared into the woods after their parents were killed and are rescued years later. But…hit the scary music….some caretaker of unknown origin still has an interest in them.
Last Stand (Lionsgate): It is Ah-nuld’s return to a leading role on the big screen as he and Johnny Knoxville take on some undesirables who invade their quiet southwestern town. Cue the explosions!
Broken City (Fox): Mark “I don’t talk with animals” Wahlberg and Russell Crow star in a thriller about a private eye who investigates some marital infidelity for the mayor and uncovers a real estate scandal.
Mama (Universal): Guillermo del Toro produces this horror picture about two little girls who disappeared into the woods after their parents were killed and are rescued years later. But…hit the scary music….some caretaker of unknown origin still has an interest in them.
Great Stories Pick: Last Stand
Speaking (however unfairly) for the rest of the team at GS, we are big horror fans (OK, I admit to being the only horror hound on the team). Mama strikes me as a rental, however, and the draw of a classic Schwarzenneger film is just too good to resist. I want the old action movie heroes to rise up again! Broken City looks like a nice moody drama/thriller too, but it will take the runner’s up.
Speaking (however unfairly) for the rest of the team at GS, we are big horror fans (OK, I admit to being the only horror hound on the team). Mama strikes me as a rental, however, and the draw of a classic Schwarzenneger film is just too good to resist. I want the old action movie heroes to rise up again! Broken City looks like a nice moody drama/thriller too, but it will take the runner’s up.
January 25th
Movie 43 (Relativity): A shock and awe comedy with an ensemble cast that includes the likes of Gerard Butler, Emma Stone, Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Uma Thurman, Kristen Bell, Richard Gere, and Julianne Moore and many more. One of those loosely-related series of sub-plot type of movies is the word.
Hansel & Gretel : Witch Hunters ( Paramount): Famke Janssen and Jeremy Renner play the famous siblings who survived the gingerbread house of horrors and grew up to become the butt-kicking pair dedicated to vanquishing evil.
Parker (Film District): Jason Statham stars as a professional thief who is some kind of modern day Robin Hood. After getting double-crossed by his not-so-merry men, he tracks them down with the help of J-Lo minus the back-up dancers.
Johnny Dies at the End (Magnet): Two college drop outs have to save humanity after a new drug on the street (soy sauce) sends its users across time and dimensions and then back again in not so human form.
Great Stories Pick: Hansel & Gretel
Following his roles in “The Avengers” and the latest Bourne installment, what is there not to like about Jeremy Renner? Add in a little ex-Bond girl, some sinister fairy tale lore, and you might be onto something entertaining! Truth be told, action movies just look better on the big screen too. Hansel & Gretel looks like the kind of cheesy action/special effects movie that makes it fun to go thrown down your Andrew Jackson , toss popcorn in your mouth, and smile until the end credits. After seeing the trailer for “Parker”, I quipped to my fiancée that I had already seen that movie (and I sincerely meant it, thinking it was a DVD advertisement and not a new film). I guess there is just something too familiar about Statham's roles. “Movie 43” just looks like an utter mess in spite of the respectable and talented actors that are all over the credits. And “Johnny Dies at the End” screams of Billy Bob Briggs’ Movie Channel grade-C movie fare (not that we don’t like that kind of thing!).
Following his roles in “The Avengers” and the latest Bourne installment, what is there not to like about Jeremy Renner? Add in a little ex-Bond girl, some sinister fairy tale lore, and you might be onto something entertaining! Truth be told, action movies just look better on the big screen too. Hansel & Gretel looks like the kind of cheesy action/special effects movie that makes it fun to go thrown down your Andrew Jackson , toss popcorn in your mouth, and smile until the end credits. After seeing the trailer for “Parker”, I quipped to my fiancée that I had already seen that movie (and I sincerely meant it, thinking it was a DVD advertisement and not a new film). I guess there is just something too familiar about Statham's roles. “Movie 43” just looks like an utter mess in spite of the respectable and talented actors that are all over the credits. And “Johnny Dies at the End” screams of Billy Bob Briggs’ Movie Channel grade-C movie fare (not that we don’t like that kind of thing!).
Are you planning to hit the box office and catch a flick this month? What has caught your eye of the films that are in theaters now or to be released in the next couple of weeks? We want to hear from you!
We’ll check back in with you next week…have a great weekend!
I'd go see The Hobbit again in a heartbeat before seeing any of those.
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