2020 Nominee Watch – January 17th

Our two big releases this weekend are a remake (of a remake) and a second sequel. What's that about there not being any new ideas in Hollywood anymore?

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Bad Boys For Life
The trailer stars off with the lead characters claiming they're doing this "one last time," but I find it a little hard to believe that this will be the last Bad Boys film we get. This is a series that has already spanned three decades.

This version looks like it has much more glitz and glamour than the previous versions did, a reflection of the times today. And while Will Smith is still a very bankable star, I'm not as sure about where Martin Lawrence falls on that spectrum at this point.

I have no doubt this will be an OK action film, and you'll get plenty of explosions, shootouts, car chases, etc. But I really fear that there won't be much else of substance once you look below the surface.

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There is a reason this film is coming out in the middle of January. You're not going to see any Oscar buzz for this around this time next year.

If you're a big fan of the first two films, check this one out, but otherwise it might be one to skip.

Dolittle
Now that Robert Downey Jr. is done playing Iron Man (sorry for the spoiler if you haven't seen Avengers: Endgame, but it's been almost nine months) he can safely move along to new things. Apparently the first thing he's working on is a retelling of the story of Doctor Dolittle, first made famous in the Hugh Lofting books of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s and later brought to the screen by Rex Harrison in 1967 and Eddie Murphy in 1998.

If you go back and watch the Rex Harrison version of the story, it's a classic. The way that the animals were created and made to talk was impressive, especially given the lack of digital technology at the time. Now, returning to this story may have a bit too much reliance on the digital technology, and I worry that the story itself may suffer as a result.

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Ultimately, this will likely end up on the shortlist for the Best Visual Effects Oscar next year based solely on the animal visuals, but I doubt very much that it will have the kind of long lasting impact that Downey's recent MCU films will have.

Limited Releases

• Big Brother – Indian action film about dealing with drug cartels.
• Disturbing the Peace – Guy Pearce plays a small town cop dealing with a gang of bikers coming in to rob a bank.
• Extracurricular – A couple faces unknown terrors when a group of students play a prank on them that goes wrong.
• Feedback – Horro film about a radio personality facing a group of killers in the studio.
• Frozen II: Sign Along – Go back to theaters and revisit the hit Disney film with sing along lyrics!
• The Host – A man faces off against sinister agents in an attempt to find his brother and save his family.
• Intrigo: Death Of An Author – Ben Kinglsey stars in theis story about three interlocking stories of murder and intrigue.
• Jai Mummy Di – Indian romantic comedy about a young couple trying to figure out why their mothers hate each other.
• My Hindu Friend – Willem Dafoe stars in a film about a man fighting cancer who meets a young boy in the hospital and strikes up an unlikely friendship.
• Montu Ni Bittu – Bollywood spectacle and romantic comedy.
• The Wave – Justin Long stars as a man who works as a corporate attorney living under the influence of some drug.
• An American in Paris – Special presentation of the 1951 classic film starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. (January 19th Special Engagement)
• Liberation – Chinese war film set in 1949. (January 20th)
• Speed of Life – A woman loses her husband when he falls through a rift in space time and meets her 30 years later. (January 20th)
• D-Love – A couple picks up a man at the airport trying to hitchhike across the country and brings him home to stay with them, changing their lives forever. (January 21st)
• #AnneFrank, Parallel Stories – Helen Mirren narrates this story of the legacy of Anne Frank as told through the eyes of those that would have been her age at the time of the Holocaust. (January 22nd)
• ​Blind Eyes Opened – A look into the world of human sex trafficking in the United States. (January 23rd Special Engagement)