Get out your marker and dry erase board of upcoming movies, because you'll have to add a few more dates to the calendar.
First up, despite Vulture's suggestion that Disney was trying to offload the DreamWorks drama (they have a distribution arrangement), "Welcome To People," from tentpole writers and producers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, it is now slated with a June 29th release date. The film stars Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau, Mark Duplass and Michelle Pffeifer and tells the story a twenty-something business man who, after the death of his father, must deliver $150,000 in cash to the alcoholic sister he didn’t know he had, and her son, a 12-year-old with major anger management issues. So yeah, definitely counter-programming in the midst of the summer. No word yet on the exact release plans (limited or wide) but we presume this means a trailer and more is just around the corner.
Meanwhile, a couple films off the festival circuit are coming your way. Premiering at TIFF last year, "Hick" starring Blake Lively, Chloe Moretz and Eddie Redmayne will go UltraVOD on May 8th and into theaters on May 11th. Directed by Derick Martini (”Lymelife”), the film is an adaptation of Andrea Portes’ coming-of-age novel of the same name (she penned the script as well). The story revolves around Luli (Moretz), a 13-year-old Nebraskan girl and her hard-going life on the road after she runs away from her neglectful parents and home. She’s taken in by Glenda (Lively), a hard-living grifter who takes her under her wing. We weren't so impressed by the film at the fest calling it "a black blot of shame for everyone who had a part in its making." Ouch.
Lastly, premiering at Sundance just last month, "For A Good Time, Call" will be ready for audiences when it rolls into theaters on September 14th in limited release, hitting Los Angeles and New York City first. Directed by Jamie Travis, the film was written by Katie Anne Naylon and Lauren Anne Miller, who also star alongside actress Ari Graynor in the feature about women short on cash and prospects who start a phone sex line. We didn't get a chance to catch it in Park City, but we look forward to seeing it soon.
I guess I wasn't as oblivious to reality as previously indicated.
I saw HICK the movie and read HICK the novel. I loved the novel and I liked the movie. But it is definitely not for everyone. It's harsh. The novel, if I remember was harsher than the movie. The young girl in the novel is raped at bar bathroom by some degenerate. Then she's kidnapped and raped repeatedly, over a sustained period of time by Eddie Kreezer who is played by Eddie Redmayne. It's very in your face in the novel. In the movie the barroom rape is a "near miss". The degenerate tries to rape Chloe Moretz but fails because Eddie saves her. Also we never see Eddie rape her. It's implied though. It's also implied that she is finding him attractive in the movie version. And they changed the ages. The Eddie in the book was 40 and the Eddie in the movie looks no more than 21 or 22. I'm sure the book split readers and the movie will do the same.
My only disappointment with the movie was its hyper focus on Chloe Moretz. Not because she's not good in it. In fact, she's much better here than in anything I've ever seen her do. She shows that she is truly a multi-dimensional actress. It's just that everything seemed so dependent on her experiencing the events around her that I felt all of the things she was feeling. Sadness, joy, fear, heartbreak, etc. It's definitely a kind of storytelling that some viewers like, but I prefer to just view a film and not feel like I'm in the lead character's shoes the whole time. But, then again, it is the same story that was in the book and it feels true, so I guess I'm torn on it.
I will go see it again when it comes out.
And I agree that whoever reviewed this film for The Playlist was way off of the mark.
The so-called critics here, at the playlist and indiewire, are the most frustrated, failed or failing writers & directors to ever walk the face of the earth. I NEVER EVER let their reviews influence me. They are like the bullies of blog-land.
I've heard a lot of bad things about Hick, but it can't be all bad if Chloe is in it.
I saw Hick at TIFF and completely disagree with your review, but then I thoroughly disagreed with your negative assessment of the Kick-Ass script, too. It's not a film for everyone, to say the least, ou sound like another person responding to the controversial subject matter rather than the quality of the film and performances. It's one of the more interesting films I saw at TIFF, and the performances were all good.
I saw Hick at TIFF and I completely agree with your review. Horrible is an understatement. Moretz isn't a bad actress and she genuinely surprised me in KickAss and Let Me In, but this film is a step in the wrong direction in an otherwise solid career. Lively has never impressed me, so I wasn't shocked or disappointed with her bad performance and her AWFUL accent. Redmayne tried his best, but I between this and My Week with Marilyn, I really hope the kid finds a strong role that utilizes his talents and screen presence.