Fall Movie Preview Spectacular! Part 2

Alex Cross

Release Date: October 19^th

Directed by Rob Cohen; Starring Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Rachel Nichols, Jean Reno, and Giancarlo Esposito

Oh boy. Remember when this one had The Wire star Idris Elba attached to play the title role? And Pitch Black director David Twohy set to direct? Yeah, that movie sounded awesome. I literally could not wait to see it, especially given the wealth of material to work with in James Patterson’s novels. Then Twohy dropped out. And Elba dropped out. And some idiot at Summit Entertainment thought hack action director Rob Cohen and cross-dressing comedy star Tyler Perry would be suitable replacements. Sigh…

Alex Cross, as a character, has a lot of potential. And for all I know, Cohen and Tyler could very well make a quality film together. But their hiring just seems so wildly counterintuitive, especially given where this project started, that I can’t help but bury my head in my hands and wait for the seemingly inevitable disaster.

Killing Them Softly

Release Date: October 19^th

Directed by Andrew Dominik; Starring Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, and Ray Liotta

Another film that gets instant hype just for its pedigree: Assassination of Jesse James writer/director Andrew Dominik? Awesome. Brad Pitt playing a violent enforcer with a cool goatee? Double awesome. An incredible supporting cast featuring the likes of Jenkins, Gandolfini, and Liotta? Hell yeah! A title that reminds me of that awful love song all the choir girls at my high school were creepily obsessed with? Okay, less awesome, but when you hear Brad Pitt say “I like to kill ‘em softly” in the trailer, the title suddenly becomes cool again.

Reaction out of Cannes was very strong, and every piece of marketing since then has been downright awe-inspiring, so I see no reason not to treat this as one of the most important films to look out for this Fall.

Paranormal Activity 4

Release Date: October 19^th

Directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost; Starring Katie Featherston and Kathryn Newton

What is there to say about this franchise at this point? You either love it or you don’t. I myself could not care less. I despise found footage projects to begin with, and found the first film especially tedious. Still, I have no problem with others liking these films, and have heard good things about the sequels. Hopefully this fourth film gives the fans a quality experience, and that Paranormal Activity doesn’t destroy itself quite as badly as the Saw franchise did by the end.

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obloodyhell

What made Taken so good was really pretty simple: Luc Besson wrote it and produced it. I’ve yet to see anything with Besson in two “construction” roles (writer, director, producer) that wasn’t at least good, often very good, sometimes excellent…. even the stuff he has only a single role in the creation of, often do well enough. Liam Neeson’s talented acting was just icing on that cake. So I expect Taken2 to be decent at worst.

Pitch Perfect looked remarkably lame on concept, but… from the trailer it looks like it has just enough irreverence and snark to pull off not being some dumbass Glee ripoff.

Butter sculpting…? Looks just weird enough to work.

The only concern with Argo is that George Clooney produced it. That suggests it’s going to reflect enough of his ultraliberal viewpoint that it will successfully turn off audiences. There’s a reason certain movies and TV series over the last 10-odd years have generally fallen flat on their faces — they reflect a view of America that isn’t in keeping with that of the American people, but instead reflects the attitude of the Hollywood Elites. Clooney is one of those. If he chose to produce it, it’s because he liked something he saw…. and that bodes ill for this movie’s primary message.

Alex Cross looks decidedly uncerebral.