The House with a Clock in Its Walls

Huh, so that’s what an Eli Roth directed Amblin movie looks like…it honestly doesn’t look half bad. But at the same time, it doesn’t seem that different from something like Goosebumps, and it is worth noting that Roth isn’t credited as a writer (that would be Eric Kripke), but who knows if he rewrote any of it (or had it rewritten by someone else like he did with Death Wish) uncredited.

I haven’t read this book, so I’m not sure what to expect here, the teaser only gives us a taste of what this material is, and I like how weirdly sinister everything is. I’m not sure what else to make of it, but it definitely has me curious.

The House with a Clock in Its Walls will be in theaters September 21st.

 

Super Fly

It’s hard to get around the fact that the remake of the 1972 classic, Superfly, will abandon the iconic funk/soul sound in favor of exploring the current trap rap scene in Atlanta, Georgia. But hey, you gotta modernize it somehow, and I’m open to the changes if they work.

The film is directed by longtime music video director, Director X, and written by Alex Tse, whose last gig was co-writing Watchmen.
With only this trailer to go by, I’m not immediately grabbed. It feels rather indistinguishable from most other urban gangster films, but I can’t imagine the project getting the kind of names both in front of and behind the camera if there wasn’t something worthwhile about it, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Superfly will…fly…into theaters June 15th.

 

First Reformed

Now, this I am really looking forward to. Paul Schrader is someone always worth keeping an eye on, even if some of his recent efforts don’t quite live up to the brilliance of his early work. However, everything I’ve been hearing about this from its run on the festival circuit has been nothing short of incredible.

Plus, Ethan Hawke has always been one of my favorites, so I’m always up for whatever he’s in, and the rest of the cast is looking really good too. This is easily one of my most anticipated films of the year, and with A24 themselves describing it like the “unholy love child of A Ghost Story and Taxi Driver,” I can hardly contain my excitement.

First Reformed will be released in select theaters on May 18th.

 

The Darkest Minds

This doesn’t really inspire a ton of confidence, it mostly feels like “what if X-Men, but filtered through the standard Young Adult Dystopia tropes?” It feels like the kind of film that should’ve been made three years ago.

However, one aspect keeps me intrigued, and that is the director. The is the first live-action film from Jennifer Yuh Nelson. She has been heavily involved in the Kung Fu Panda series, serving as Head of Story for the first, and director of the second and third films (she’s even directed a couple episodes of the Spawn animated series). I think there’s a lot of potential in her when it comes to the realm of live-action, and while I wish her talents were applied to something that was maybe a bit more substantial, I’m still very curious to see what she is able to pull off here.

The Darkest Minds will be released on August 3rd.

 

Terminal

Somehow this shows a lot, yet tells you nothing at the same time. It does look very interesting though, there’s bits that remind me of early Guy Ritchie, bits that echo Nicolas Winding Refn, influences from a lot of different corners of cinema. I don’t know if it’ll add up to something compelling, but I am curious.

Margot Robbie, like she did with I, Tonya, serves as both producer and star, and this way of helping create opportunities for herself is smart both as a business move and a creative one. I hope she continues to challenge herself because I really enjoyed I, Tonya, and I’d like to see what other strange, new territories she’s willing to explore.

Terminal will be released on May 11th.

 

Revenge

So, I actually saw this last year at Beyond Fest, so I can already tell you this movie is pretty damn awesome. I didn’t think there would be much left to mine out of the rape-revenge genre, but leave it up to French filmmaker, Coralie Fargeat, to prove me wrong with her debut film as a writer and director. It’s incredibly suspenseful, occasionally offbeat, and so satisfying as the titular “revenge” starts. If you can stomach some really brutal violence, I give this one a high recommendation.

Revenge will be released in select theaters and VOD on May 11th.

 

And Then I Go

Melanie Lynskey is a treasure, and Justin Long is…A-OK in my book. Figured I’d start on a light note since this one seems like it will be a gut puncher, and a timely one at that. I’m not familiar with this director’s work, but the co-writer, Brett Haley, has written and directed several films that I’ve enjoyed very much like I’ll See You in My Dreams, and The Hero. He has one coming later this year called Hearts Beat Loud that I’m excited for, so him writing this, along with the author of the book it’s based on, Jim Shepard, makes me very intrigued.

And Then I Go will be available on VOD platforms on April 17th.

 

Racer and the Jailbird

This is the latest film from Michaël R. Roskam, who brought us Bullhead and The Drop. It looks very erotic, very stylish, and just full of life. Plus the two leads, Matthias Schoenaerts and Adèle Exarchopoulos, have been great in many things I’ve seen before, so I’m excited to see them work together here.

It’s also worth noting that the script is co-written by Thomas Bidegain who worked on many great films like A Prophet, Rust and Bone, Dheepan, etc. As far as I know this is his first collaboration with Roskam, so I’m curious to see what they come up with here. I’m getting a vibe it will be like Drive, if the central romance in that was more sexually charged. Either way, this looks cool, and I think you should put in on your radar.

Racer and the Jailbird will hit select American theaters on May 4th.

 

Kodachrome

There’s nothing quite as comforting as a good road trip movie, since the strengths of it are usually all about the actors, and how they bounce off one another. Jason Sudeikis, Elizabeth Olsen, and Ed Harris is an unexpected bunch, which only makes me more compelled to see this.

And the twinge of nostalgia with the whole kodachrome processing seems like it will actually be grounded in character and not something added in just to be twee. Not much else to say really, it looks simple, familiar, but sweet.

Kodachrome will be available on Netflix on April 20th.

 

Those are all we have for today. Any favorites? Any you’re not excited about? Sound off the comments, and let me know what you think!