Coming Soon
Talk about a project with some serious credentials. Having Denzel Washington and Viola Davis involved is enough to get most people hyped for a substantial drama, but Fences comes with much more behind it. The film is based on the play of the same name by August Wilson, which in the ‘80s had James Earl Jones in the lead, won a slew of Tony Awards, and landed Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
In the world of movies, you should never go home. It rarely goes well, and even if you do attain some measure of pathos, it comes at great cost. Jack doesn’t have much choice in Jack Goes Home; you have to attend your father’s funeral, but if your mother is horror fixture Lin Shaye, you should really know better.
A man named Paterson living in a town called Paterson seems quaint, like a small oddity you brush by on a road trip. It’s certainly not something you stop for, but then writer/director Jim Jarmusch rarely stops for the obvious thing. Many of Jarmusch’s films, which are considered exemplary of the American independent scene, ignore traditional plot structures, but Paterson seems to be taking things to a tranquil extreme.
Every Tuesday, Film Inquiry compiles a list of the movies that are opening in cinemas. Opening this week: The Girl On The Train, The Birth of a Nation, The 13th, Voyage of Time, Under The Shadow, Middle School:
It’s taken thirteen years for the guys to stage another Christmas heist, but Willie and Marcus are finally back in all their surly glory. They’ve set their sights a bit higher this time, using their Santa and elf routine to infiltrate a large charity group instead of measly department stores. The rude and seemingly uncontrollable antics of Willie put the entire enterprise in jeopardy last time, and thirteen years doesn’t seem to have changed his behavior.
Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has done a few acting gigs in recent years, but nothing with the heft and screen time of Ordinary World. In the film, Armstrong stars as a rocker in the midst of a mid-life crisis, and his presence is surprising not only as an actor but as a normally aging adult. His character has left the stage behind for normal family life, and with that comes greying hair and a basic style.
Inferno bumps the Robert Langdon film series up to a trilogy, as the symbologist is again swept up in a globetrotting mystery. While not as controversial as the series’ previous entries, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, the film stills deals heavily with Catholic mythology, this time centering on Dante’s Inferno and its formative influence on the modern idea of hell. It’s not surprising that the series, taken from books of the same name by Dan Brown, have such enduring popularity.
At long last, we have footage for Passengers. Most people have been waiting for this since mid-2015 when news hit that Sony was green lighting a sci-fi romance led by two of the hottest actors in the game. Christ Pratt was flying high off of The Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Jurassic World at the time, while Jennifer Lawrence was still in the midst of both The Hunger Games and X-Men series.
Film Inquiry makes a list of the movies that are opening in cinemas every Tuesday. Opening this week: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Deepwater Horizon, Masterminds, Clowntown, Maximum Ride, American Honey, Milton’s Secret, Denial, Do Not Resist, Harry & Snowman and Danny Says.
Dane DeHaan, who stole our hearts as the troubled teen in The Place Beyond The Pines, is back again in a romantic drama called Two Lovers and a Bear. The film, directed by Kim Nguygen (whose film Rebelle was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2013) had its North American premiere at TIFF last week and debuted at Cannes this past spring. Two Lovers And A Bear takes place far-north, in the Canadian province of Nunavut.
With its small scale stated in the title, Certain Women looks like a traditional Kelly Reichardt film. Intimate and low-key, her movies rarely stretch to include more than a handful of characters leading small lives. This minimalist style tests the patience of some viewers, while others find the delicately observed moments riveting.
Prepare yourself for another round of bad boy cops in War on Everyone, the latest from writer/director John Michael McDonagh. While sticking to his earned reputation for sharp-witted and thoroughly inappropriate humor, McDonagh takes a few steps away from his normal setup in his third outing. Gone is Brendan Gleeson and the familiar Irish setting, instead taking advantage of American police’s battered reputation as loose cannons with badges.
As has happened many times before, Christine will be released on the heels of a frightfully similar movie. Both this biopic and the documentary Kate Plays Christine, released earlier this summer, are based on the life of newscaster Christine Chubbuck, who committed suicide live on-air in 1974. While the case has faded from widespread public knowledge, it exists on the fringe thanks to various websites and videos dedicated to the most shocking televised events in history.
Every Tuesday, Film Inquiry compiles a list of the movies that are opening in cinemas. Opening this week are The Magnificent Seven, Queen Of Katwe, The Dressmaker, Girl Asleep, Closet Monster, Storks, Beauty and The Beast, Dirty 30, I.T.
Tom Ford isn’t dabbling in filmmaking. While primarily a fashion designer, his 2009 debut A Single Man turned heads not only for its style but its deeply felt rumination on loss. He co-wrote and directed that project, and while its depth was a delightful surprise, it also set the bar very high for his sophomore effort.