If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's clearly the mentality that the writers of Ride Along brought to the table. And I can't blame them, given the tremendous success buddy comedies have found in Hollywood, particularly in recent years with action-heavy team-up comedies like 21 Jump Street and 2 Guns. Luckily, there's more to Ride Along than just a rehash of those hits.
Even at 79, Judi Dench continues to amaze. Her performance as Philomena Lee, a kindly Irish woman who attempts to track down the son she was forced to abandon decades earlier, represents a new high-water mark for the veteran actress, who commands every crease of her storied features and every glance of her piercing blue eyes to deepen the portrayal. Philomena is a film about love, life, death, faith and forgiveness, but most of all it's a story about one woman's stunning courage in the face of adversity. And with Dench in the part, the film also becomes a dazzling showcase for her talents.
Following up on A Dangerous Method, a Freudian analysis of human sexuality, and Cosmopolis, a dark satire of the Occupy movement, noted provocateur David Cronenberg is set to continue reaching the darkest corners of our collective psyches with his next film, Maps to the Stars.
With all the awards attention paid to Netflix's political drama House of Cards and prison dramedy Orange Is the New Black, it's extremely easy to forget about the streaming giant's other noteworthy original series, supernatural thriller Hemlock Grove. That's more than a little unfair to the Eli Roth-produced series; though it certainly can't match the dramatic heights of its network competitors, there's a campy fun inherent in the series' over-the-top gore and sexuality. Luckily for fans of the show, Netflix has opted to bring it back for another ten episodes, and today, the network revealed the premiere date for Hemlock Grove's second season.
Next month, Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) will return to television with FOX's 24: Live Another Day, a 12-episode update of the acclaimed espionage thriller series. Set four years after the explosive events of 24's eighth and final season, Live Another Day finds Jack laying low in Europe, still hounded by the CIA. When he catches wind of a planned terrorist attack in London, the former agent leaps into action, determined to prevent global chaos even as his pursuers draw closer.
After Neighbors received overwhelmingly positive reviews (including three-and-a-half stars from our very own Matt Donato) at the South by Southwest Film Festival earlier this year, anticipation is building for the raunchy college comedy, which stars Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as a suburban couple thrown into disarray when a rowdy fraternity moves in next door.
If you're dreading the glut of action/superhero blockbusters set to arrive this year, you can rest easy knowing that there are plenty of promising horror films on the horizon as well. Deliver Us From Evil, from Scott Derrickson, the director of Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, is perhaps my most anticipated, primarily because it looks to blend a demonic possession plotline with the dark and brooding feel of a cop drama.
Dwayne Johnson would have to stoop pretty low to do worse than January's The Legend of Hercules with his upcoming swords-and-sandals epic Hercules. Not only is he a much better fit for the legendary warrior than Kellan Lutz, but his take on the character also features a strong supporting cast, Rush Hour's Brett Ratner as director, and a larger scale (the original title was Hercules: The Thracian Wars, so filmgoers can expect some epic battle sequences).
Focus Features has announced that it will release its dark fantasy adaptation A Monster Calls, to be directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, on October 16th, 2016.
The home planet of Luke and Anakin Skywalker will play a role in J.J. Abrams' wildly anticipated series update Star Wars: Episode VII, according to The Hollywood Reporter. There's no reason to doubt THR's story, especially after news broke a little while back that the film would be shooting in Morocco for a few weeks.
