Weekend Preview: Summer Going Out In Style
It pains me to say it, but the Summer season is almost over. We have just a few more weeks of popcorn before we get into the serious stuff in September (can you say Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER?), but that doesn’t mean we don’t have some quality stuff hitting theaters. Check out my preview for next week’s releases
PREMIUM RUSH- Starring Joseph Gordon Levitt, Michael Shannon and Dania Ramirez, and directed by ANGELS AND DEMONS writer David Koepp, PREMIUM RUSH takes place on the streets of New York City. Wilee (Levitt) is a talented, thrill seeking bike messenger who is given an envelope that gets the attention of a dirty cop (Shannon) who pursues Wilee throughout the city. A fairly simple premise with a very good and popular leading man, a strong villian, and enough sex appeal to fill a theater on a hot Friday afternoon. On first glance PREMIUM RUSH looks like a quality action flick and summer blockbuster, yet unless Gordon Levitt steps up his game and Koepp makes a quality movie (His last major motion picture was ANGELS AND DEMONS in 2009), I’m not sure if this movie will get enough people rushing out to the theaters. I really like Shannon and JGL, but between the director and the film’s first trailer, I’m not sure if this movie gets my full attention this weekend.
HIT AND RUN- Starring real life couple Kristin Bell and Dax Sheppard, Bradley Cooper and Tom Arnold, and also directed and written by Sheppard and David Palmer, HIT AND RUN tells the story of former getaway driver Charlie and his girlfriend (Bell), who get chased on the road to Los Angeles by FBI and Charlie’s former gang. The trailers for HIT AND RUN have looked hilarious and outrageous, the reviews have been so-so, but getting over that question mark with Sheppard co-directing and writing the film, HIT AND RUN looks like a quality summer flick. Enough of everything and no need for higher thinking, it looks to be a good way to get out of the heat this weekend. Plus the relationship between Bell and Sheppard will make for very good chemistry and a whole lot of laughs.
THE APPARITION- Starring TWILIGHT’s Ashley Green, Tom Felton and Sebastian Stan, and written and directed by Todd Lincoln, THE APPARITION follows a group of college students who somehow conjure up an entity that feeds on fear. Horror movies are very hit or miss and are almost always considered, by most viewers, to never be as scary as they look. THE APPARITION enters a number of different areas in horror to try to pull off scares, including using aspects of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, THE GRUDGE, and THE RING, but Todd Lincoln must prove he can raise the tension throughout the film and stay away from the easy horror cliches that fail to suspend belief.