Stowaway (2021), Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Toni Collette, Netflix
Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Toni Collette and Shamier Anderson’s latest sci-fi/thriller is all about a mission to Mars that runs into a series of unintended challenges, after a stowaway is discovered on board.
Surely there’s no way that this ends well for all involved. I feel as though my heart just broke multiple times while watching this trailer. Still, I’m in for that special Kendrick, Collette and Kim magic.
I also want to see how it all unfolds because I could be wrong, but it seems as though some secrets are bound to come out.
Lastly, will this movie be as good as or better than Netflix’s other recent space movie, The Midnight Sky(2020)? I wonder.
Noelle (2019), Anna Kendrick, Disney+, Walt Disney Studios
In new family/fantasy Christmas movie Noelle, Santa Claus retires but his son (Bill Hader) gets cold feet about taking over. It therefore falls to his daughter Noelle (Anna Kendrick) to take over the family business.
From writer/director Marc Lawrence; additional key cast members include Shirley McLaine, Billy Eichner and Julie Hagerty.
Watching this trailer just transported me to a place where I’m dressed in elf pyjamas and have a warm cup of coco in my hands.
I’m ready for all the Christmassy goodness plus that special Kendrick humour. Anyone else?
Alison Araya, Lina Renna, Chelah Horsdal, Alvina August, Michael Gross, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lee Shorten and Diana Maria Riva also star.
Four Lions (2010) director and co-writer Christopher Morris has a new comedy starring Anna Kendrick, Merchánt Davis, Denis O’Hare and Danielle Brooks.
Set in the Miami projects, in The Day Shall Come, Davis plays Moses, an impoverished preacher who’s offered cash to save his family from eviction. What poor Moses doesn’t know is that his sponsor works for the FBI who have plans to turn him into a criminal…
The Day Shall Come kind of looks like one of those films people either love or hate. I’m hoping I’ll be in the former camp. Especially since I haven’t seen Morris’s most famous work Four Lions but I’ve heard good things.
The fact that I enjoyed the talking horse towards the end of this trailer must be a good sign, surely.
Kayvan Novak, Jim Gaffigan, Miles Robbins, Pej Vahdat, Adam David Thompson, Mousa Kraish and James Adomian also star.
Director Paul Feig’s crime / thriller about a mommy vlogger trying to find out the real reason behind her new best friend’s sudden disappearance is a movie I liked less than I expected to.
Starring Blake Lively, Henry Golding and Anna Kendrick, what I liked most about A Simple Favor, besides Lively’s character Emily’s great sense of style is her embodiment of a young woman in charge who refuses to take nonsense from anyone.
It’s therefore no wonder then that Kendrick’s outwardly super sweet Stephanie was very much drawn to the clearly inspiring and very fun to watch Emily.
There was a moment after all the key characters seemed to have been established that I wondered where the story was really going. What I most certainly didn’t expect is that I’d find A Simple Favor to be rather unsatisfying overall.
Having never read the book on which this movie is based, I’d prepared myself for a different kind of experience; one that was a fun mystery with entertaining dialogue, but without things taking quite the dark turn that they did. And when I say ‘dark,’ I’m really mostly referring to the truth behind Emily, her true nature. It’s clear to me now that I simply wanted to like her.
The last time a movie did something similar to me, almost like a bait and switch was The Lobster (2015). And just like the Lobster, I liked the earlier half of A Simple Favor more.
Watch it if you’re so curious, maybe you’ll enjoy the darkness.
A Simple Favor (2018), Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively
Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick and Linda Cardellini are the stars of Paul Feig’s latest, a crime / mystery / thriller, A Simple Favor.
Kendrick is a mommy vlogger who seeks to uncover the truth behind her best friend’s sudden disappearance…
I only really know Feig for his hit comedy films. Namely Bridesmaids (2011) and Spy (2015). May his transition to the non-comedy category also prove fruitful.
I can’t say that I’m a fan of the various moments of ‘dialogue minus imagery’ in this trailer, yet I am intrigued and I like Lively and Kendrick enough to take a chance.
Henry Golding, Rupert Friend, Eric Johnson and Sarah Baker also star.
The Hollars (2016), Sharlto Copley, John Krasinski
Directed by John Krasinski, The Hollars is a comedy / drama about a son returning to his small town after his mother falls ill. Not the most obvious premise for comedy but there are laughs to be had with Krasinki’s latest directorial effort. Besides the good humour, especially courtesy of Sharlto Copley’s brother character, I enjoyed the film’s portrait of family, sibling dynamics and all the good performances from all the cast.
Written by Jim Strouse who also wrote one of my favourites, People, Places, Things (2015), Anna Kendrick, Charlie Day, Richard Jenkins, Margot Martingale and Randall Park also star.
The Hollars is fitting for when you’re in the mood for a relaxing drama / comedy with a little splash of romance – nothing too taxing.
Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), Zac Efron, Adam DeVine
During Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates, it didn’t take long before I found myself thinking ‘Oh great, this is one of those types of comedies.’ This unfortunate thought entered my mind within the first ten minutes during the intervention scene. A scene where the immature, co-dependent brothers played by Zac Efron and Adam DeVine respond to their family’s accusation that they ‘rile each other up’. The joke here contained gratuitous use of expletives and was unfortunately over-stretched to the point where I wanted to shout ‘CUT!
I promise that I generally do enjoy the effective and creative use of colourful language – just not when it’s over-used to the point where it removes rather than adds to the desired effect, comic or otherwise. There were additional disappointing moments where I thought, ‘Really? That’s how that would happen?’ But I persevered nonetheless.
In terms of the good things about director Jake Szymanski’s movie, one of the funniest and most refreshing moments is the dialogue between DeVine and Aubrey Plaza in the scene where they whisper to each other outside their Hawaii hotel rooms. There’s also the rather well-executed massage sequence thanks to an impressive performance by Sugar Lyn Beard and Kumail Nanjiani.
Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza
Overall, instead of Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates being the ‘comedy of the summer’ it could have been, what we seem to have is a series of comedy sketches in what ought to have been an improvisation class setting because a lot the jokes / story still needed sharpening and editing down.
Last words from me: Seek out the great scenes highlighted above. Otherwise just do whatever makes you happy. For me, Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates is one more reminder that a truly good comedy is so very hard to make. Why not try Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). It’s very special indeed.
Starring and directed by John Krasinski, The Hollars is a family drama / comedy about what happens when a son returns to his home town after learning of his mother’s illness…
I’m tuning into this one for the comedy, intriguing family dynamics and a cast that in addition to krasinski, includes Charlie Day, Anna Kendrick, Richard Jenkins, Josh Groban, Margo Martindale and Sharlto Copley.
The Movie My Life 