CinemaNerdz

The Pre-Christmas 2017 Preview Reel

Scott Davis
The Preview Reel

Welcome to the “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide release movies. Star Wars: The Last Jedi predictably dominated the box office last weekend as it opened to a staggering $220 million, good for the second biggest opening of all-time. It will no doubt continue to be the top grosser throughout the holiday season, but there are four new releases trying to cash in on the holiday crowds. From musicals (The Greatest Showman and Pitch Perfect 3), to belated sequels (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), and even raunchy R-rated comedies (Father Figures), there’s seemingly something for everyone.

 

The Greatest Showman

What we are excited about: Musicals seem to be enjoying a bit of renaissance of late, and we’re okay with that. From Les Misérables (2012), to Into the Woods (2014), and last year’s La La Land (2016), there always seems to be a crowd-pleasing musical playing during the holiday season. The trailers seem to emphasize the gorgeous musical numbers. Add in stars like Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya, and Michelle Williams along with the fact that the songs were co-written by La La Land’s lyricists, and we’re excited for this original musical.

What we are worried about: There isn’t anything glaring that we’re worried about, besides the fact that this movie will probably look to entertain more than enlighten. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially since it is a family musical, but La La Land was a great musical and had dramatic heft. The film is also directed by a first-time director, Michael Gracey, which has us concerned about the film. Hopefully he was chosen for his musical background. The Greatest Showman probably won’t be nominated for fourteen Academy Awards like La La Land was, but a family musical is fine enough for the holiday season.

The Buzz: The internet is still deciding if it likes or hates The Last Jedi, so there isn’t much buzz on anything else. The film did turn a few heads, however, when it was nominated for Best Picture—Comedy or Musical and Best Actor for Hugh Jackman at the Golden Globes. Not many people were expecting this movie to get some award buzz, and while most people think these are the only big nominations it will get, it’s still impressive. Pitch Perfect 3 might take away some of its crowd, but look for a five-day opening around $25 million.

Final Thoughts: If you prefer entertaining musical numbers over giant space battles, it seems The Greatest Showman should satisfy your needs.

 

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

What we are excited about: The cast is rock solid (pun intended). Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black all have huge hits under their belts and putting all three of them in one movie, seems to be a guaranteed money maker. Karen Gillan has some comic book fans from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and Nick Jonas is a music popstar. If the cast can play off each other well, and fully utilize their strengths, this could be a very entertaining adventure flick.

What we are worried about: Having a great cast doesn’t solve every one of a film’s problems, and the trailers for this movie seem to suggest a lot of problems. The least of which is justifying its existence. Honestly, do we need another Jumanji movie? Zathura (2005) seemed like a decent sequel that didn’t make too many fans mad, but making the game of Jumanji a video game seems a little silly. Some of the jokes in the trailer are funny, but others are a little too obvious for our taste. We’ll see if the movie can blend comedy and action better than the trailers, but we are a little worried for this one.

The Buzz: Critics saw this movie a couple weeks ago, and to most people’s surprise, it has gotten decent reviews. It currently sits at 80% on RottenTomatoes and 57 on MetaCritic, which are both better than most people were expecting. Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart both have large followings on social media and their fans should turn out in full force. Add in some decent reviews, and we think this movie will make around $65 million over the five-day weekend.

Final Thoughts: The trailers didn’t sell us, but reviews have been better than expected, so maybe this will be a good one to go see with the family over the holidays.

 

Pitch Perfect 3

What we are excited about: Pitch Perfect was an unexpected hit back in 2012. It was funny, had great music, and plenty of personality to become a fan favorite. Most of that winning cast from the first installment is back for this third one, which means they could find that winning formula again. If they nail the songs and sprinkle in some truly funny moments, there’s no reason to think they can’t replicate the success of the first movie.

What we are worried about: The problem with what we are excited about, is that they already tried to do that with Pitch Perfect 2 (2015). That movie was “aca-awful,” and although it made a whole bunch of money, it doesn’t have the same charm the first film had. We’re thinking one Pitch Perfect movie was more than enough and they are stretching this franchise way too thin.

The Buzz: Again, Pitch Perfect 2 made a ton of money, but it has been pretty much forgotten since. That doesn’t bode well for Pitch Perfect 3, which doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of buzz going into this weekend. The film currently sits at a disappointing 46% on RottenTomatoes, which doesn’t help when there are so many other options. Pitch Perfect 2 opened to $69.2 million back in 2015, but we don’t think this installment will reach those heights and is instead looking at a $35 million opening.

Final Thoughts: Maybe just stay home and watch the first film instead.

 

Father Figures

What we are excited about: Ed Helms and Owen Wilson have plenty of great comedies on their resumes. Helms was in one of the biggest comedies of all-time, The Hangover (we’ll forget the sequels happened), while Wilson has had numerous hits like Zoolander and Wedding Crashers. Add in supporting players like Glenn Close, J.K. Simmons, Christopher Walken, Ving Rhames, and Terry Bradshaw, and you have a great comedic cast.

What we are worried about: As mentioned with Jumanji, having a great cast isn’t everything. This movie was originally supposed to come out last November, and has been delayed multiple times until falling into this Christmas weekend release. That doesn’t bode much confidence from the studio, and the trailers show us why. It looks like a Mamma Mia! rip off, only with no music and incredibly unfunny jokes.

The Buzz: Out of the four wide releases this weekend, this one has by far the least amount of buzz. It doesn’t seem to be catching on with people and will likely be forgotten in a couple weeks. We’re looking at an opening around $7 million.

Final Thoughts: There’s plenty of other better options than this seemingly lazy R-rated comedy.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.
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