“Lover For a Day”
Cast: Eric Caravaca, Esther Garrel, Louise Chevillotte
Synopsis: After a devastating breakup, the only place 23-year-old Jeanne has to stay in Paris is the small flat belonging to her father, Gilles. But when Jeanne arrives, she finds her father living with a new girlfriend her own age: Arianne. Both young women are looking for their own kind of love in a city filled with possibilities.
What You Need to Know: Closing out his trilogy of love, french director Philippe Garrel’s new film “Lover for a Day” offers an intimate and in depth character study on the nature of human connection with a decidedly more optimistic outlook than the prior two films in the series. The film focuses on the ways two markedly different young women experience love and pleasure with frank close-ups and unshielded honesty. Filmed in sober and pristine black and white, “Lover for a Day” should prove to scratch the itch of arthouse fans looking for something heartfelt in the early months of the year.
Release Date: January 12th
“Mary and the Witch’s Flower”
Cast: Hana Sugisaki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Yuki Amami
Synopsis: A strange flower grants a young girl magical powers, which leads to the adventure of a lifetime.
What You Need to Know: As we sit idle and patiently for Hayao Miyazaki’s next picture (which is happening even though when it arrives is still very much TBD), director Hiromasa Yonebayashi is here to satisfy that nagging want. Formerly of Studio Ghibli, Yonebayashi’s “When Marnie Was There” was rather slept on here in the states. A melodic and haunting picture, it promised a burgeoning talent who had earned his stripes in the animation field for more than 20 years. With the much anticipated “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” he continues to deliver on that promise with a winsome fairy tale, based on the popular book “The Little Broomstick.” We could all use a little whimsy and magic in our lives and Yonebayashi is determined to deliver.
Release Date: January 18th
“12 Strong”
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Pena
Synopsis: 12 Strong tells the story of the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11; under the leadership of a new captain, the team must work with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban.
What You Need to Know: I’m pretty sure I am not this film’s target audience. There is value to be found in true stories of heroism, especially in a cinematic market so focused and fascinated by men and women in spandex saving the day against fictional villains. In some instances, there can be films that succeed in telling stories about war in a post 9/11 world that don’t come off as xenophobic or pandering to certain American values. This just doesn’t look like it will succeed in any of it. The cast is an exciting one (it’s wonderful to see Trevante Rhodes continue to get work following his superb performance in “Moonlight”) but that’s just about all of the intrigue the film manages to stir up. Perhaps it will surprise us and not just be more of the same.
Release Date: January 18th
“The Final Year”
Cast: John Kerry, Barack Obama
Synopsis: “The Final Year” is a unique insiders’ account of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy team during their last year in office. Featuring unprecedented access inside the White House and State Department, “The Final Year” offers an uncompromising view of the inner workings of the Obama Administration as they prepare to leave power after eight years.
What You Need to Know: It only took our 44th President releasing his favorite books and music of 2017 on Facebook to strike a sense despair into readers hearts as he reminded us how different and less hopeless everything felt over a year ago when history wasn’t already drawing a giant x over this period in time. Of course, we get constant reminders of the disaster universe we’re living in every day when a new tweet is launched. All of which makes “The Final Year” all the more timely, no matter how much it feels like salt in the wound. Following the foreign policy team during their last year of office, our critic said:”There’s an instant wave of comfort and dread that overwhelms you upon revisiting Obama and his team throughout their last year in office. To see some semblance of normalcy inside the Oval Office is soothing; to know what’s set to come by the end of the year is disquieting.”
Release Date: January 19th
“The Maze Runner: The Death Cure”
Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Sangster, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillan
Synopsis: In the epic finale to the ‘Maze Runner’ saga, Thomas leads his group of escaped Gladers on their final and most dangerous mission yet. To save their friends, they must break into the legendary Last City, a WCKD-controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze of all. Anyone who makes it out alive will get answers to the questions the Gladers have been asking since they first arrived in the maze.
What You Need to Know: Popular opinion seems to think that “The Maze Runner” series based on the books by James Dashner aren’t very good (aside from the charms of the first half of the first film). The fims weren’t given any favors either by arriving at the point when YA, dystopian adaptions were reaching the fatigue status as series such as “The Hunger Games” and “Twilight” were either winding up or already finished and audiences were ready for something new. However, this series has found a crowd, and while I won’t say I love these films, I’m also genuinely curious to see how they end. Director Wes Ball has shown a deft eye for capturing the mayhem of the world these characters live in and following Dylan O’Brien’s on set accident that disrupted production for months, there’s a genuine intrigue in just how the studio, cast and crew were able to bring it over the finish line.
Release Date: January 26th
