Interest: High
I love westerns, particularly spaghetti westerns, and the shots in this trailer make it look like it’s definitely inspired by those fun Italian flicks. There’s also something about a UFO maybe? I’m definitely interested.
Official Synopsis
A few years from now… Bacurau, a small village in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants (among them Sônia Braga) notice that their village has literally vanished from most maps and a UFO-shaped drone starts flying overhead. There are forces that want to expel them from their homes, and soon, in a genre-bending twist, a band of armed mercenaries led by Udo Kier arrive in town picking off the inhabitants one by one. A fierce confrontation takes place when the townspeople turn the tables on the villainous outsiders, banding together by any means necessary to protect and maintain their remote community.
Swallow
March 6 (limited theatrical and VOD)
Interest: Moderate
This didn’t initially look like something that would fit with the theme of The Last Theater, but watching the trailer makes me think that it might go to some pretty dark places. That’s good enough for me to include it on this site. Plus, the movie looks like it could be really good.
Official Synopsis
On the surface, Hunter (Haley Bennett) appears to have it all. A newly pregnant housewife, she seems content to spend her time tending to an immaculate home and doting on her Ken-doll husband, Richie (Austin Stowell). However, as the pressure to meet her controlling in-laws and husband’s rigid expectations mounts, cracks begin to appear in her carefully created facade. Hunter develops a dangerous habit, and a dark secret from her past seeps out in the form of a disorder called pica – a condition that has her compulsively swallowing inedible, and oftentimes life-threatening, objects. A provocative and squirm-inducing psychological thriller, SWALLOW follows one woman’s unraveling as she struggles to reclaim independence in the face of an oppressive system by whatever means possible.
Interest: Slight
This looks heavy-handed and maybe not-so-great, but I’m interested enough to want to see it. I think I’ll try my best to stay away from any comments about The Hunt though. Just a brief perusal of the YouTube comments immediately made me sigh, roll my eyes, and shake my head all at the same time. People are just using it as a platform to complain about politics, as if politics in film is something new. It isn’t, and the basic plot of The Hunt isn’t really all that new either. Ever heard of Surviving the Game? That movie is a lot of fun!
Official Synopsis
In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, a group of elites gathers for the very first time at a remote Manor House to hunt ordinary Americans for sport. But the elites’ master plan is about to be derailed because one of The Hunted, Crystal (Betty Gilpin, GLOW), knows The Hunters’ game better than they do. She turns the tables on the killers, picking them off, one by one, as she makes her way toward the mysterious woman (two-time Oscar® winner Hilary Swank) at the center of it all.
Interest: Moderate
This is another movie that might not fit perfectly into the theme for The Last Theater, but it looks violent and pulpy enough that I feel okay including it this list. I’ve only read a few Bloodshot comics, but he always looked like a neat character. The movie looks fun, and I love the fact that Guy Pearce is in it since it seems to have so much of a Memento feeling to the plot (Memento being one of my favorite movies).
Official Synopsis
Based on the bestselling comic book, Vin Diesel stars as Ray Garrison, a soldier recently killed in action and brought back to life as the superhero Bloodshot by the RST corporation. With an army of nanotechnology in his veins, he’s an unstoppable force –stronger than ever and able to heal instantly. But in controlling his body, the company has sway over his mind and memories, too. Now, Ray doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not – but he’s on a mission to find out.
Official Synopsis
Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.
Official Synopsis
In this black comedy of middle-aged masculinity gone awry, Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist) is a recent divorcee who becomes obsessed with a vintage fringed deerskin jacket that begins to exert an uncanny hold on him. Set in a sleepy French alpine village, he falls into the guise of an independent filmmaker and befriends a trusting bartender and aspiring editor (Adèle Haenel, Portrait of a Lady on Fire) who becomes his collaborator on a movie that will document a surprising new goal he sets himself.
