Upcoming Movie Roundup - February

Last month my personal predictions were accurate: Agent Carter wound up being just as fun as I expected and saved January from being a complete let-down in the entertainment department. Here I review episodes 1 and 2, 3 here, and 4 here. February will be happily filled with them as well as the last four air! But on the film side, February is looking up from its preceding month with a few movies with some potential, and one surprise must-see!

Seventh Son
Feb 6th; PG-13
Another one of those adaptations from a YA novel. This one isn't dystopian though, so that's different. It's more Eragon, with a magic-filled medieval setting. And there's a heavy dose of the creepy sorcery. Ben Barnes plays the lead, the seventh son of a seventh son, which makes him very important somehow, and Jeff Bridges is his mentor, who must train him to-- I don't know, fight evil... that part isn't very clear. Julianne Moore is the villain. I don't imagine this will be good at all, and though the trailer wants you to think "300" or "Godzilla," it looks more like "Clash of the Titans" except even more weird and even less popular.




Jupiter Ascending
Feb 6th; PG-13
Not to be confused with Mercury Rising. This movie can be completely balanced with pros and cons, see: Pro; it has Sean Bean (and I'm very curious to see how his death scene turns out) -- con; it has Channing Tatum. It has Eddie Redamayne (and he's doing a cool "whisper every line" thing) -- it has Mila Kunis (and she wears an awful lot of makeup for her "degrading, unglamorous job"). It has James D'Arcy -- apparently; 3 trailers and five days til release and I've seen no evidence of his existence in this movie. It has super cool special effects -- that will undoubtedly smother any trace of a compelling plot line. With so many extending action sequences, at least we won't have to sit through too much of the un-compelling and weird plot -- who am I kidding, we definitely are. And thus the balance tips.




Kingsman: The Secret Service
Feb 13th; R
I have been excitedly anticipating this movie since I first saw the trailer sometime in September. Or, rather I should say "had" been. I only learned a couple weeks ago of it's R rating, which I seriously will never understand because there's no way it needs all that to be fun or funny, because the trailer looks awesomely fun and hilariously funny, and it's totally clean! Anyway, the plot is kinda like Spy Kids for adults... or Johnny English minus the imbecile... or X-Men without the superpowers... Ooo! Or James Bond with lots of comedy! Newcomer Taron Egerton stars as one of many college-age kids selected to train to become a Kingsman (super-cool gentleman spy). Colin Firth is the agent who sees his potential, and Samuel L. Jackson is the baddie. Michael Caine and Mark Strong are also there.




The Last Five Years
Feb 13th; PG-13
With February always comes the slew of romance movies, and this one stands a little bit out from the rest by being musical, based on a stage musical. It's about a couple's five-year-long romance, and is formatted interestingly; the girl's (Anna Kendrick) point of view is retrospective, starting at the end of their marriage (spoilers, much?) and ending when they meet; and the guy's (Jeremy Jordan, of Broadway fame) goes normally, from beginning to end. (So it's a bit like The Doctor and River, except, not at all... I'm probably just confusing you... I'm confused too.) With Anna Kendrick, and Jeremy Jordan, I'm sure the music and singing will be great, but there's not much else here to really interest.




Old Fashioned
Feb 13th; PG-13
This is the perfect example of why I do this Upcoming Movies post at all, because I doubt I would have ever noticed this little movie flying under the radar of other Valentine fare. It's an indie rom-com about a guy, who, after abandoning his wild and secular lifestyle meets a girl he's interested in, and doesn't know how his new moral self should handle it -- so they try an old fashioned courtship. It's being marketed as an alternative and polar opposite to 50 Shades of Grey, which is just brilliant. I'd want to see it just because of that, but I want to see it anyway -- and definitely I will. With it's limited release I might not get an opportunity for a while, but I will at my earliest convenience. The premise is great, and if it's done well, the movie could be great too.



Does February hold any promise for your entertainment?