THE EQUALIZER
(Columbia) Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloe Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Haley Bennett. Directed by Antoine Fuqua
McCall is a man with a mysterious and violent past that he would much rather put behind him. He lives a quiet life doing a non-descript job. When he meets a beautiful and sweet young girl who is under the control of vicious, violent and sadistic Russian gangsters, he is bothered. When they beat her up and put her in the hospital, he knows this will only end in her demise. He sets out therefore to use his skills to get her out of their control, even if it means taking on overwhelming odds but that’s nothing new for McCall. If you have a problem, he’s the man who can fix anything. Based on the 80s TV hit that starred Edward Woodward in the same role.
See the trailer, clips, a featurette and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard, IMAX (opens Thursday)
Genre: Action Thriller
Rating: R (for strong bloody violence and language throughout, including some sexual references)
Believe Me
(Gravitas) Alex Russell, Nick Offerman, Johanna Braddy, Miles Fisher. Everyone knows that the cost for higher education is terrifying. When four seniors discover that their money has run out and in order to graduate they’ll have to come up with a semester’s worth of tuition, they are concerned. When they find out how much that is, they are in full-on panic mode. With no jobs, no money and no ideas, they hit upon the idea of establishing a fake charity. They become so successful at raising money that real charities begin to take notice – and want them on board. Except those real charities might not be quite so charitable as they might seem.
See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG-13 (for some language)
The Boxtrolls
(Focus) Starring the voices of Elle Fanning, Ben Kingsley, Toni Collette, Simon Pegg. A community of mischievous but good-hearted creatures that live below the town discover an orphaned boy who has nobody to take care of him. Naming him Egg, they agree to raise him as best they can. Years later when the Boxtrolls are threatened by the townspeople, it will be Egg who must come to their rescue and get both sides to learn to live together.
See the trailer, clips and a featurette here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard (opens Thursday)
Genre: Animated Feature
Rating: PG (for action, some peril and mild rude humor)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
(Weinstein) James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, William Hurt. A couple whose relationship is falling apart make a last ditch effort to rescue it. Originally made as two separate films – one from the viewpoint of each person in the relationship – Weinstein in their infinite wisdom or lack thereof has decided to combine both films into a single movie. I suppose we’ll never know if the two film thing was gimmicky or innovative.
See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard
Genre: Drama
Rating: R (for language)
Field of Lost Shoes
(Bosch) Lauren Holly, Jason Isaacs, David Arquette, Keith David. As the Civil War progressed, it chewed up soldiers at a terrifying rate. Particularly in the South where they didn’t have the manpower reserves that the North had, young and elderly men alike were called upon in the latter stages of the war to defend their native soil. At the Virginia Military Institute, raw cadets were tasked with defending the monstrously important Shenandoah Valley. This is their story.
See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard
Genre: War
Rating: PG-13 (for war violence and some thematic elements)
The Notebook
(Sony Classics) Ulrich Thomsen, Ulrich Matthes, Laszlo Gyemant, Andres Gyemant. On the border of Hungary and Germany during the Second World War, a pair of 13-year-old twin boys are given a notebook by their father to chronicle their lives. Living with a terrifying grandmother, they train themselves to desensitize their bodies to the value of human life. Few films have ever captured the effects of war on the innocent as this one has.
See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard
Genre: War
Rating: R (for disturbing violent and sexual content, nudity and language)
The Skeleton Twins
(Roadside Attractions) Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell. A pair of twins, estranged for a number of years, are forced back together by economic circumstances. As they reacquaint themselves, they discover that the key to fixing their lives may just lie in repairing their relationship.
See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Rating: R (for language, some sexuality and drug use)
The Song
(Goldwyn) Alan Powell, Ali Faulkner, Caitlin Nicol-Thomas, Danny Vinson. An aspiring musician meets and marries the devout daughter of a vineyard owner. As musicians sometimes do, he writes a song for his new bride. However, he is unprepared for what happens when the song becomes a huge hit. Beset by pressures and temptations he’s ill-equipped to handle, his life and marriage slowly begin to crack at the seams.
See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard
Genre: Faith Musical
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements including some substance abuse, smoking and rude references)
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