No excuses - it's time to go back to the movies
A killer line-up of flicks is coming our way...
Movie theatres - remember them? I do! I love them! Give me popcorn and ice cream and a great film and I’m in bliss. But with tentpole films delayed and some piss-poor programming decisions made by Event Cinemas recently, there hasn’t been much of a reason to bother. Until now. Here’s why all that’s about to change. Let’s go…
In those weird, nervous, tentative days in late August last year, when Auckland emerged from its second lockdown, I strapped on my mask, headed off to my favourite run-down mall, and climbed the escalators up into the movie theatre.
At Event Cinemas in West City, the place felt completely and utterly abandoned.
The guy who sold me a ticket to Tenet was literally the only person in the entire seven-screen complex. This was last year’s biggest film and no one checked my ticket, no one was buying popcorn, no one was playing games in the arcade and no one else was in the cinema with me.
From what I could see, the entire complex was empty.
Since then, every time I’ve been to a movie it’s felt the same way. Empty foyers, empty theatres. I’m no businessman, but this doesn’t seem good. Having multiple cinemas hosting multiple screenings with no one in them doesn’t seem like a solid money-making enterprise idea to me.
Of course, Covid-19 has threatened the entire industry. Big films have been delayed, little films have been canned, and it’s harder than ever for movie makers to get their money back on what is an incredibly expensive investment. Across the UK and US, theatres chains are completely shuttered, with no word on when they’ll return.
Bad movies don’t help the situation. Last week I absolutely flew off the handle about Wonder Woman 1984, which is less of a movie and more of a series of randomly-generated WTF moments resulting in one of the worst superhero experiences I’ve ever had. I hated it. I hated all of it so very much.
But there was one little light at the end of the tunnel: the trailers. Each trailer was so good, so lively, so full of hope, it got me excited again. Excited to leave the house, to stuff my face full of popcorn, and to drop melted chocolate ice cream all over my white T-shirt again. I always do this. Why?
Anyway, check out the trailers for these five films, all of which come out in the next few weeks, and see if you feel the same way as I do…
Shadow in the Cloud (February 4)
The trailer for this World War II adventure is a hair-raising, edge-of-your-seat thrill-ride from beginning to end. It’s just reckless. There’s absolutely no let-up. If the resulting film delivers even a quarter of what this promises, Shadow in the Cloud is gonna be incredible. And yes, that is Kick-Ass’ Chloe Grace Moretz, who is all grown up now.
Synchronic (February 11)
This. Give me all of this. Inject it into my veins and smother me with a pillow, I want to ingest all of the synchronic I can get my hands on. Synchronic is a druggy time travel trip and has generated plenty of buzz for its directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. It will, apparently, make you want to go back and watch their previous films Resolution and The Endless. An 83 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t hurt either.
Nobody (February 18)
In Nobody, Bob Odenkirk plays a family man with a dodgy past catching up to him. Sound familiar? It should! Odenkirk does this kind of thing incredibly well, but this feels more like a John Wick film than Breaking Bad, and the action scenes look insane. Delayed because of Covid-19, it’s finally getting released, and I can’t wait. Looks like a knock out blow.
The Little Things (February 18)
Cops. Serial killers. The 90s. Rami Malek. Jared Leto. And Denzel MF Washington. I am so there for this one. This serial killer caper is from John Lee Hancock, advance buzz is very, very good, the trailer is moody as all hell, and Washington recently told AP the script and the cast made it an absolute no-brainer for him. It’s a no-brainer for me too. I’m so there.
Chaos Walking (March 4)
“Where are all the women?” Good question! Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley star in this sci-fi caper set in a world in which everyone can hear your thoughts. And yep, there are no women. Doug Liman knows a thing or two about directing action films - he’s the guy behind The Bourne Identity and Mr & Mrs Smith. Fun fact: Charlie Kaufman wrote the film’s first script. Let’s hope some of his weird buzz stays in there.
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