So many movies, so little time.
Short of camping out in the movie theatre for weeks at a time, a fun idea that unfortunately comes with some real hygiene and livability issues, you need to take a good hard look at trailers for upcoming movies and work out which ones deserve an in-cinema viewing and which should be streamed at home.
Behold the first in a revived series of Mass of Movie Trailers which give you five trailers at a time, a synopsis and a brief overview so you can decide which movie delights tickle your fancy.
Let the reels unspool …
SNAPSHOT
In “Quitters,” the young Clark (Ben Konigsberg) is a smart-aleck San Francisco teen who thinks he can outsmart the entire world, but his home life is a mess. His mother (Mira Sorvino) has a prescription pill addiction that lands her in rehab, and Clark doesn’t have much of a relationship with his impatient father (Gregg Germann).So what does he do? He decides to find a new family, specifically the family of an attractive classmate Natalia (Morgan Turner) who lets Clark temporarily move in as a houseguest. When conflict inevitably arises, it’s up to Clark to face up to the reality of his situation. (synopsis via Ace Showbiz)
Growing up isn’t the easiest of undertakings even when you have a supportive mother and father and a relatively normal home environment.
Clark doesn’t have any of those things complicating the whole process by an unimaginable factor but as he discovers what look like an easy solution isn’t always the most straightforward or what’s best for you.
Quitters premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and looks every bit the smart, fresh, witty and insightful take on the dramas of finding your way in the world with a dysfunctional family pulling you down at every turn.
Quitters opens 22 July in USA.
I Am Not a Serial Killer
SNAPSHOT
In a small Midwestern town, a troubled teen with homicidal tendencies must hunt down and destroy a supernatural killer whilst keeping his own inner demons at bay. I Am Not a Serial Killer is directed by British filmmaker Billy O’Brien, of the films Scintilla, Ferocious Planet and Isolation previously. The screenplay is by Christopher Hyde and Billy O’Brien, based on the novel by Dan Wells. (synopsis via First Showing)
With the soul of Dexter, but a look and feel all its own, I Am Not a Serial Killer is a case of potential like tracking down like, a dark and quirky indie film about justice perhaps being best wrought by those who know the evil they fight.
In this case, the evil is a real presence within and without making this narrative more than a little bit personal and all the more affecting as a result.
I Am Not a Serial Killer opens in Canada on 2 August and in limited release and via internet in USA 26 August.
Five Nights in Maine
SNAPSHOT
A young African American man, reeling from the tragic loss of his wife, travels to rural Maine to seek answers from his estranged mother-in-law, who is herself confronting guilt and grief over her daughter’s death. Five Nights in Maine is both written & directed by Maris Curran, making her feature directorial debut with this film. (synopsis via First Showing)
It’s natural when the dead hand of grief falls upon you to try and figure why this great calamity has befallen you.
Granted grief has no obvious discernible whys and wherefores, and just heartbreakingly is, an unfathomable world of loss and mourning that fights for explanation but often simply has to weather the passage of time.
Five Nights in Maine takes us into that unknowable place and asks if there is any way to really understand what has happened or whether we simply have to accept it and do our best, however hard, to move on.
Five Nights in Maine opens 5 August in theatres and VOD.
Table 19
SNAPSHOT
Ex-maid of honor Eloise – having been relieved of her duties after being unceremoniously dumped by the best man via text- decides to attend the wedding anyway only to find herself seated with 5 “random” guests at the dreaded Table 19. Table 19 is directed by American filmmaker Jeffrey Blitz, of the film Rocket Science and the documentaries Lucky and Spellbound previously, as well as work on The Office. (synopsis via First Showing)
There is no greater social misadventure than finding yourself at the wedding of someone you barely know, or worse, finding yourself at the wedding of someone you once knew all too well, who has consigned you to the Siberia of tables, the one where all the leftover people with no tangible place to belong are placed.
It can be an ordeal but cheek-by-jowl oddballness but sometimes you can be surprised by the bonds you forge which looks to be the case with Table 19 where appearance may be deceiving and you may have unwittingly been handed the tools with which to refashion your currently ailing life.
Table 19 opens 20 January 2017.
A Monster Calls
SNAPSHOT
A visually spectacular drama from acclaimed director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible), based on the award-winning children’s fantasy novel. 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) attempts to deal with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss, and faith. (synopsis via Coming Soon)
Dealing with the twin evils of grief and bullying would be a tall order for anyone but all the ore so for a 12 year old overwhelmed by forces so great that there likely seems no way through or around them.
Based on the novel by Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls lends a fantastical element to this titanic struggle to find some accommodation with reality, an unforgiving beast that likely can only truly be dealt with by some equally as powerful in return.
This looks to be wholly effecting and poignant, a film that seems like a grim dark fairytale but is as real as you can get.
A Monster Calls opens 21 October in USA and 1 December in Australia.