New releases this week…wait! There’s a new Star Wars film coming out this week? Really? Man, they should really promote that thing more!
1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Disney, 4,232 Theaters, 152 Minutes, Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer at press time: 93% Fresh [244 Theaters]): Every so often, there is a film that comes along that I really do not need to talk about. This is one of those weeks.
If you don’t know what Star Wars is about, then you probably don’t want to know so me giving a plot synopsis is useless. Giving my opinion on how good or bad I think the film will be is as pointless because you probably have already made up your mind.
So, all I’m going to do is direct you tp FBOL Head Honcho Rich Drees’ review of the film here.
2. Ferdinand (Fox, 3,621 Theaters, 106 Minutes, Rated PG for rude humor, action and some thematic elements, Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer at press time: 79% Fresh [47 Theaters]): This release puzzles me. I know that there is such a thing as ‘counterprogramming,” where you release a film the same day as a big blockbuster in the hopes of getting people who aren’t interested in the blockbuster to come see your film. Like, opening a romantic comedy the same day as a big action film, or a kid flick the same day as a horror tent pole. But this film seems to carry over a lot with Star Wars‘ audience, so the strategy might not work out that well.
This film is based on the classic children’s book, and like other adaptations of that sort, a lot was added to the original concept in order to make a movie out of it. So instead of a large bull that looks scary but really is a sweetheart, we also get an escape caper as well.
Reviews are fairly decent, but will the little kids who can’t get into The Last Jedi really want to see it?
Next week, the new releases feature three comedies looking to take down the Jedi. It won’t be pretty.
