The Oscar Project
The summer is coming to an end and so is the summer blockbuster season. We've seen new films from strong franchises including Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Marvel, and Mission Impossible along with a few other surprises over the past few months. Now it's time for a little lull before we get into the heat of the fall movie season and start seeing many of the strong Oscar contenders hitting theaters.
If you have some films you've been meaning to see but haven't gotten to yet, this might be a good weekend for catching up. The new offerings don't appear to be the greatest and even the limited releases on tap leave something to be desired.
A.X.L.
What would you do if you found a robot dog that was part of a secret government weapons program? I'm pretty sure the first thing would not be use it as a ramp to perform jumps on your motorbike. However, that's just one of the fun things we see in the trailer for A.X.L. This feels like a fun film, but also one that I've seen before in different incarnations. 2016's Monster Trucks immediately jumps to mind, complete with the off road vehicles and young protagonist. As with that film, I feel like I get the entire story from the trailer and don't have much hope of new insights coming from the film itself. With a bunch of relatively unknown actors making up the cast, I don't see a whole lot of optimism for award nominations in any of the acting categories. This is Oliver Daly's first feature film as well so directing seems out of the question as well.
The Happytime Murders
I wonder what the original Muppet master would think of where the world of puppets has ended up. It's probably difficult living in the shadow of Jim Henson, but Brian Henson has managed to keep the Muppet franchise alive and this weekend brings us an entirely new take on the puppet movie genre. Be warned, the tag line for this film is accurate in that there is no sign of the kid friendly Muppets from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. The trailer below is a red band and drops several F bombs along with the most involved puppet sex since Team America: World Police in 2004. This combined with McCarthy being mistaken for a man several times in the 2 minute trailer made me laugh out loud several times.
Searching
When I first heard about this film, I thought it looked similar to last month's Unfriended sequel. Boy was I wrong! After watching more about this film, it looks like a fresh take on the story of a parent searching for their missing child, fully updated to reflect on what that search would be like in today's digitally connected world. Even in the course of the trailer, we see glimpses of the fake lives that get posted on social media, making people look perfect to the world, while at the same time keeping a secret (or secrets) buried deep within. I was pleased to see John Cho in the lead role here since I really like him as an actor.
If you're looking to stay on the edge of your seat this weekend, check out Searching. If you're looking for the next Oscar nominee, keep reading down the list of limited releases for better options.
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AuthorI'm just a film buff who wants to watch great movies. Where else to find the best, than the list of those nominated by the Academy each year? Archives
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