"The Incredibles 2" and "Hotel Transylvania 3"

The Incredibles are back! Everyone's favorite super-powered family is adjusting to a new dynamic, after Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) gets a new job with an industrialist, Deavor (Bob Odenkirk), who wants to bring back superheroes via a splashy PR campaign. This leaves Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) to look after Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Huckleberry Milner) and baby Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile). Childcare should be a breeze for a superhero, right?

The "Incredibles" sequel is very good. However, it doesn't come close to matching up to the 2004 original, which I consider one of the high water marks of modern animation. The stakes in the new movie are lower, the storytelling more messy, and the social satire and commentary are noticeably less thoughtful. Brad Bird has revealed that he lost an entire year of development time when the project was fast-tracked, which probably accounts for some of the differences. The dialogue is still refreshingly smart, and I like a lot of the new characters, but the film feels very rough around the edges. Notably, one major character seems to be missing an emotional arc entirely, and another frequently feels like an afterthought.

As spectacle, however, "Incredibles 2" is a blast. CGI animation has seen massive technological improvements since the first film, and the sequel benefits in every way. Individual action sequences are amazing, especially Elastigirl's chase and fight scenes with a new villain named the Screenslaver. Jack-Jack also becomes a scene-stealer, as his array of new powers allow him to get into all kinds of trouble. His brawl with a raccoon and his encounter with Edna Mode are both hysterical, and my favorite parts of the film. Though "The Incredibles" has the most mature and realistic characters out of all the PIXAR creations, they work best when they fully embrace being cartoons. And they do here, frequently. So while this adventure isn't as well-rounded and polished as the first, it's just as much fun to watch.

I also enjoy how self-aware the movie is. Brad Bird actively avoids typical cliches and tired conventions. He also continually re-emphasizes that this is a family film. That doesn't mean the material is dumbed down, or that it doesn't get dark and intense when it needs to, but rather that there's something for everyone. Problems are relatable, and handled in healthy, realistic ways. Mr. Incredible deals with caregiver burnout and resentment (but doesn't blame his wife). Violet is devastated by teenage love woes (but is only briefly angry at her father for interfering). Dash has poor impulse control. Jack-Jack has poor control, period. The adults have adult concerns and have serious adult conversations addressing them. However, the kids get their turn in the spotlight, and the movie doesn't lose anything when they do.

Now, on to the latest "Hotel Transylvania" movie, "Summer Vacation." I wrote this one off sight unseen at the beginning of last year, but it turned out to be a perfectly good cartoon feature, loaded with sight gags and clever ideas. I like it better than either of the prior installments, because it totally embraces being a zany cartoon, and commits to delivering a good time. The plot is simple stuff, but provides a lot of opportunity for hijinks - the whole gang goes on a cruise and Drac (Adam Sandler) falls in love with the ship's captain, a human named Erica (Kathryn Hahn). But alas, she's secretly the granddaughter of Drac's longtime rival, the monster hunter Abraham Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan). Along the way, there are stops at an underwater volcano and the lost city of Atlantis, along with plenty of cruise ship chaos.

The "Hotel Transylvania" movies have turned out to be some of the most watchable animated movies currently being made, largely due to the animation. Genndy Tartakovsky and his team make sure that their characters are always very visually dynamic and comedically expressive in the grand tradition of the Looney Toons and Max Fleischer shorts. This installment doubles down on some tired elements, like ending with a giant dance party, but there's a lot of creativity and inventiveness on display too. There are lots of running jokes like the cruise ship porters all being fish, the werewolf couple's swarm of destructive pups, and a slime monster family. My favorite sequence is Drac and friends being stuck on an airplane being piloted and crewed by gremlins.

This one will play better to younger audiences, but I was surprised at how positively I felt toward "Summer Vacation" in the end. We need more cartoons that really take advantage of being cartoons.

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"Maniac" is a Messy Mind-Bender

Minor spoilers ahead.

The ten-part Netflix miniseries "Maniac" looked so promising in the previews. Cary Joji-Fukunaga directs, and Jonah Hill and Emma Stone star in a science-fiction dramedy about an experimental drug trial that goes a little wonky. Full of wild concepts, stylized visuals, and multiple fantasy version of the main characters, "Maniac" seemed to be right up my alley.

And it starts out great, introducing Owen Milgrim (Hill), a paranoid schizophrenia who has agreed to lie in court for his more successful brother Jed (Billy Magnussen), and Annie Landsberg (Stone), who became addicted to pills after the death of her sister, Ellie (Julia Garner). Watching the two of them find their way into the Neberdine Pharmaceutical and Biotech drug trial, under the supervision of unstable scientists and an even more unstable supercomputer, is a lot of fun. There are a lot of interesting elements set up, like Annie and Owen's family dynamics, the bickering ex-lovers, Dr. Fujita (Sonya Mizuno) and Dr. Mantleray (Justin Theroux), and a society that's off-kilter in some very specific ways - you can hire people to stand in for absent loved-ones and make pocket change by watching ads.

As the show goes on, and follows Owen and Annie through multiple phases of the drug trial and different drug-induced realities, I realized that many of these elements weren't actually contributing anything to the story. It was fun to see the characters' mental issues manifesting in ridiculous ways, but this was undercut by the baseline reality of the show already being full of wacky Terry Gilliam-esque devices. It didn't help that the various alternate realities feel randomly generated, and it is often difficult to connect them back to the main story. There's an explanation provided for why Owen and Annie end up in a reality where they're a blue collar couple trying to recover a stolen lemur, but it's not very convincing, and the subplot is poorly resolved. The other realities are even worse about this, offering snippets of story that don't really go anywhere, and revelations that are confusing or badly defined. It's never clear how these fantasies are actually helping Owen and Annie.

The show exists in this weird tonal place where it's very broad, fantastical, and high-concept, but still wants to reflect the real struggles of the afflicted. "Legion" pulled off something similar, but the main character's illness in that show is largely a metaphorical dramatic device. The leads of "Maniac" are suffering afflictions that are far more specific and recognizable. I appreciate that the show tries very hard to tell a story aimed at destigmatizing mental illness, but it doesn't really take itself seriously enough to be meaningful in that regard. Owen, for instance, only experiences the most cinematically convenient form of schizophrenia, where he hallucinates a nicer version of his brother and standard conspiracy elements. And somehow, Annie's mental baggage can be alleviated by sharing a "Lord of the Rings" themed adventure with an elfin version of her sister. All this extra set dressing just ends up getting in the way of the storytelling.

Still, the production values are high and the performances are great. Some of the more out-there concepts are very well executed, and the worldbuilding is impressive. However, I think this may be a case of the show's creators being too ambitious. There's no reason "Maniac" had to be ten episodes, include so many different dream realities, and spend so much time on the distracting subplots with the scientists. I'm not sure it knew what it wanted to be. Sometimes it feels like an anthology show where the framing device isn't working, or conversely like a straight movie about a drug trial where the drug-trip interludes were just tacked on to pad out time. There are some great, emotionally resonant moments like Owen and Annie being given their diagnoses, but they don't feel earned. And aside from a few moments of choice absurdity, the humor rarely worked for me.

Oh well. Every failed experiment still provides good data that can help in future endeavors. To the show's credit, I had no problem watching every episode all the way through and I was never bored. Jonah Hill gets special kudos for delivering my favorite performance of his yet. Owen's storyline was the best conceived and the most satisfying to follow. Plus, the hapless Scandinavian diplomat version of him that shows up in the ninth episode is easily the show's most successful comic creation. I wouldn't go as far as saying that "Maniac" was worth it for Hill's performance, but I'm glad he got the chance to show his versatility here.

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"Lean on Pete" and "Leave no Trace"

I knew very little about "Lean on Pete" going in, only that it was about a racehorse named Lean on Pete, and that it was some kind of coming-of-age film. I assumed that it was a typical feel-good narrative about an underdog rising to glory in the racing world, in the same vein as "Seabiscuit." "Lean on Pete" is definitely not that kind of movie. Instead, it's a much more unpredictable, harrowing story about a teenager, Charley (Charlie Plummer), who struggles to get by alongside his irresponsible father Ray (Travis Fimmel). Charley becomes obsessed with Lean on Pete, who belongs to Del (Steve Buscemi), a horse trainer that he works for.

Andrew Haigh, who made "45 Years" and "Weekend," wrote and directed "Lean on Pete." And it's very much a film in his wheelhouse, where the main character's interior emotional journey is always at the forefront. It's not an easy journey either, full of disillusionment, loss, and moments of despair. Little time is spent on Charley bonding with the aging racehorse. Instead, we learn the lonely ins and outs of Charley's life, mostly spent at the racetrack, the stables, or at the barebones apartment he shares with his father. It's a hardscrabble world full of blue collar folks, living on the margins. Del is friendly, but his economic prospects are poor. Ray loves his son, but barely pulls his own weight, and offers little support. Charley has to learn his hardest lessons on his own.

Most of the story is told through the cinematography, following Charley on his journeys through the Pacific Northwest. The visuals are bleakly beautiful at times, emphasizing the harsh terrain and Charley's isolation. Charlie Plummer's performance is also vital, as he spends so much time onscreen essentially by himself. He doesn't say much, but proves a compelling figure, vulnerable but hardy in the face of adversity. Haigh's filmmaking is sparse and unsentimental, letting scenes play out matter-of-factly, and leaving many questions unanswered. I found the film a difficult watch, but a very rewarding one. I had no idea where the story was going from one minute to the next, but was always completely invested in Charley's fate.

"Leave no Trace" is similarly a coming-of-age story about a teenager who has to learn how to live on her own terms. Thirteen year-old Tom (Thomasin McKenzie) survives in the wilderness with her PTSD-afflicted father Will (Ben Foster). The pair live off the land and make camp in a national park together, carefully hidden from the rest of the world. One day, however, Tom is spotted and the authorities get involved. Suddenly, the pair are thrust back into society - Tom discovering it as a newcomer, and Will forced to confront everything that he left behind. And for the first time, real tensions develop between father and daughter that threaten their relationship.

Quite a bit of the film takes place in and around Oregon, but very different parts of it than we see in "Lean on Pete." Tom and Will's world is a lushly green one, full of forests and wilderness. The environments are very immersive, and director Debra Granik lets her actors' often worldless interactions drive much of the story. Will's reasons for going off the grid are easy to suss out, but remain largely unremarked upon by any of the characters. Foster and McKenzie's performances are stellar, telling us everything we need to know about their characters' interior lives with little dialogue. McKenzie in particular is a promising new talent, with a wonderfully bright, self-assured presence.

I like how deliberately paced the film is. It's not slow or uneventful, but there's a patience to it, giving us a chance to experience each new development and change of scenery along with Tom, and appreciate how it impacts her. I also find its worldview a tremendously appealing one. Though life in modern society is unbearable for Will, for understandable reasons, everyone that he and Tom meet are perfectly sympathetic towards them, and only want to help. That help isn't always welcome, but there's an absence of any malice or disrespect. The major conflict ends up being between Tom and Will's diverging attitudes toward modern civilization, but it's handled with remarkable empathy and care. And in the end, "Leave No Trace" turns out to be one of the most touching films I've seen in some time.

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Revealing "Roma"

It's been far too long between Alfonso Cuaron films - five years since "Gravity," which came seven years after "Children of Men."  When "Roma" was first announced, a Spanish language film about a Mexican family during the 1970s, it was billed as a smaller, personal film more in the vein of "Y Tu Mama Tambien" and "Solo Con Tu Pareja."  "Roma" is certainly personal, taking elements from Cuaron's own childhood in the Colonia Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. However, there's nothing small about the filmmaking, which contains shots and images as epic as anything found in his Hollywood work.

"Roma" follows a Mixteco nanny, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), who works in the household of the well-to-do Sofia (Marina de Tavira) and Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), who have four lively children.  Sofia also employs a maid, Adela (Nancy García), who is Cleo's closest friend. Turmoil strikes the household in 1970, as Antonio goes on a business trip, and it eventually becomes clear that he has abandoned his family for another woman.  Social unrest grips the country, resulting in bursts of violence. Cleo also becomes pregnant by her unreliable boyfriend, Fermín (Jorge Antonio Guerrero), putting her future in doubt.

Initially, I was fooled by the film's slower pace and incidental storytelling.  The domestic scenes are leisurely, and though the black and white images are artfully composed, with Cuaron serving as his own cinematographer, the scope of "Roma" appeared to be very small and sedate.  However, the technical complexity of the filmmaking kept catching me off guard. There's a scene early on in the house, where the maids are turning off the lights for the night, and a full 360 degree pan shot follows the characters as they go through their routines.  Later on there's a stunning tracking shot that moves from the interior of a department store to a massive protest outside in the street, and back again. Then there's another at the climax involving Cleo and the children at the beach, one of those shots where I can't fathom how it was accomplished, because it looks so perfect.  For the discerning cinephile "Roma" is a treat.

At the same time, there's a wonderful accessibility to the story, largely thanks to Yalitza Aparicio's work as Cleo.  Aparicio came to the film with no acting experience, but her screen presence is lovely and natural. She ensures that Cleo's struggles in the face of one calamity after another are very moving.  It would have been easy to have her be an idealized martyr figure, but Cleo has some interesting moral shadings to her that help to keep the audience guessing about her fate. It took me longer to warm up to Sofia and the kids, whose big dramatic moments often play out in the background.  However, as the film went on I found myself getting more and more invested in their lives too.

It's fitting that this turns out to be a major theme of the film - huge, monumental events happen in the background of ordinary life, often beginning as tiny details that might escape our notice.  An argument happening in an adjacent room, a glimpse of a couple in the street, and a man performing a stunt in the distance, are all important and all have an impact on the main characters' lives.  Cuaron's frames are often densely packed with detail, resurrecting the Mexico City of his youth, and adding little historical and cultural details for the benefit of eagle-eyed viewers. As with Cuaron's other Mexican films, there are critical moments aimed at class divides, political divides, and social issues of all stripes.

In short, "Roma" was a wonderful surprise, a film as ambitious and rewarding as anything that Cuaron has ever done.  I appreciate how thoroughly well made it is, where the composition of every shot, and the movement of the camera, and the sound design, and the set design, and every other element you could name are just a pleasure to experience.  At times it felt like I was watching a much older classic from the '60s or '70s, except that it is clearly Alfonso Cuaron's work. "Roma" was worth the wait, and I can only hope that he won't make us wait for so long until the next one.           

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The Chinese Co-Production Genre

I watched "Skyscraper" and "The Meg" recently, two of the latest American films that heavily involve Chinese talent. One is a co-production between Hollywood and Chinese studios, and one isn't but shares a lot of the same earmarks. I think I've seen enough of these now that I'm comfortable pointing out certain trends in them that are threatening to become full-blown cinematic tropes. The old stereotypes about the Chinese are out, but they're quickly being replaced by different ones, not necessarily better ones.

Most of these co-productions are action pictures, patterned off of older, established hits from the '80 and '90s. "Skyscraper" and "The Meg" are pretty obvious takes on "Die Hard" and "Jaws" respectively. You take a headliner like the Rock or Jason Statham, put them in China, and let them play out the familiar disaster or man-on-a-mission scenario with a lot of help from the locals. The most prominent Chinese character is almost always an admirable, competent female counterpart who is also a love interest, though anything remotely physical is kept offscreen.

The Chinese leading lady, whether it's Jing Tian, Fan Bing-Bing, or Li Bing-Bing, always conforms to a very specific physical type, such that it can be difficult to tell the actresses apart. They're mostly mainland Chinese actresses, not Hong Kong, Taiwan, Asian-American, or Asian-European actresses. As a result, their English is heavily accented and they can be difficult to understand. Nobody else in the picture ever comments on this. To the contrary, you'll often have the American leading man or a comedic sidekick try to say a few phrases in Chinese, to illustrate how difficult the language gap can be to overcome. The Chinese heroine is always flawless and hyper-competent as a scientist, pilot, business woman, or administrator. Nobody ever questions her abilities, though her motives may be briefly suspect.

Male Chinese characters tend to be treated less delicately, though there's always an emphasis on polite mutual respect with the American characters. There have been few buddy pictures featuring male Chinese stars, probably because there are few Chinese actors with remotely the same pull as the American headliners. Jackie Chan made "Skiptrace" with Johnny Knoxville, but that one wasn't even properly released in the U.S. Instead, you usually see a few local authority figures like cops or soldiers played by Chinese actors, who help out at a crucial moment. You also have the older male visionary industrialist type, played by Chin Hahn in "Skyscraper" and Winston Chao in "The Meg," who often bankroll a lot of the mayhem, or at least the scenery.

China itself is always featured heavily in these films, specifically shiny new cities full of high-tech toys. Back in 2006, shots of Shanghai clotheslines were deleted from "Mission Impossible III" because Chinese critics complained that it made China look like a poorer developing country. Conspicuous consumption is verboten - "Crazy Rich Asians" barely got an official Chinese release - but otherwise making the Chinese look prosperous and modern is a must. There are a lot of beauty shots of architecture and public works, often meant to help tourism efforts. Chinese product placement also pops up occasionally, even when it makes no sense. "Transformers: The Last Knight" memorably had Chinese branding everywhere, making it a laughingstock on Chinese social media.

Ideally, none of this should affect the rest of the content in these films, but it always does. Whether it's a random Chinese scientist showing up for five minutes and two lines in "Kong: Skull Island" or Mark Wahlberg being obliged to use a Chinese smart phone, the pandering is never subtle. What I find more aggravating, however, is that these productions' efforts to please the Chinese censors and sponsors often results in bland characters and storytelling. There's never a hint of interpersonal tensions, racial or otherwise. Political issues are verboten, of course. Rough-edged leading men like Jason Statham get toned way down when interacting with the Chinese characters, who are often so idealized as to barely have personalities at all. Brainless action films aren't exactly hotbeds of great acting, but the stilted line readings and kid-glove treatment really start to grate after a while.

I realized about halfway through "The Meg," one of the few recent Chinese co-productions that actually features some decent banter and self-aware cheesiness, how much of a disservice that these films do to the Chinese. They come off as humorless, passionless automatons, who are totally interchangeable. I've never found any of them memorable or worth caring about. Where are the goofy, roguish types who are the loveable heroes of such recent Chinese hits like "The Mermaid," "Monster Hunter," and "Lost in Thailand"? Why does the imported cinematic image of the Chinese have to be the boring porcelain princess?

Because the thing is, the Chinese talent has been steadily improving and there's no reason why these co-productions always have to feel as awkward and as compromised as they often do. Because the requirements are so stifling, it limits the kinds of films that can be co-productions to a few very predictable types - action spectaculars and disaster movies. I've enjoyed some of them in spite of this, but I'm looking forward to the day when the involvement of Chinese talent isn't confined to the narrow forms we see now, and might be a real benefit instead of the unappetizing pander-fest it currently is.

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My Most Anticipated Television and Web Series of 2019

TV and movie calendars are very different beasts. January is a dead month for new theatrical releases, and things won't really pick up until March, so I'll be writing my "most anticipated" movie lists then, after Sundance. January, however, is midseason for television series, and we'll be seeing the return of shows like "True Detective" and "Star Trek: Discovery" in a couple of days. So it feels more appropriate to be writing this list now.

I'm leaving off any delayed shows that I wrote about in last year's post, like "Young Justice: Outsiders." Oh, and the last season of "Game of Thrones" is a given. I'll be writing plenty about that one in the months to come.

Good Omens - The BBC and Amazon are producing the adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's comic fantasy novel, about an angel and demon Odd Couple joining forces to stop the apocalypse. Michael Sheen plays the angel and David Tennant plays the demon, and the previews look fantastic. I've been hearing about this project for ages, since Terry Gilliam was circling a proposed film version back in 2001. It's so satisfying to see the six part miniseries adaptation finally get off the ground, and with a pitch perfect cast to boot.

Watchmen - Everything about Damon Lindelof's new HBO "Watchman" series intrigues me. All we really have right now is a list of actors, including Regina King, Jeremy Irons, and Tim Blake Nelson, and a promise that the series will take place in the "Watchmen" universe. It's not a reboot, a remake of the movie, or a direct sequel. Lindelof has remained cryptic as to what the show is actually going to be about, But considering that he's coming off the ingenious finale of "The Leftovers," I am inclined to trust him to know what he's doing.

His Dark Materials - The film version of the first volume of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy was a major disappointment. I'm happy that the BBC is taking another stab at it, with Dafne Keen as the new Lyra in an eight part miniseries. Lin-Manuel Miranda, James McAvoy, and Ruth Wilson have also been cast in major roles. If it does well enough, adaptations of the other books will follow. Filming has wrapped up, but due to the time necessary for extensive special effects, a series premiere is more probable toward the end of the year.

The Twilight Zone - The Jordan Peele produced and hosted relaunch on CBS All Access will be the third time "The Twilight Zone" has been brought back to television. Ten episodes are planned, and Peele has promised to stick to the format of the 1960s original. With the recent success of "Black Mirror," there have been a slew of new horror and science-fiction anthology series. None, however, have incorporated the same degree of social commentary and engagement with contemporary issues. I'm hoping that Peele's "Zone" will be an exception.

The Umbrella Academy - Ellen Page is having a bit of a comeback. She'll be leading the Netflix adaptation of the superhero comic series, which deals with a group of super-powered foster siblings trying to solve their adoptive father's murder. Steve Blackman, who has been involved with "Altered Carbon" and several of Noah Hawley's programs, is showrunner. And from the previews that came out of Comic-Con, apparently he'll be bringing the "Legion" dance numbers with him. This one already has a release date - February 15th.

Veronica Mars - Hulu is bringing "Veronica" back for what's being described as a limited series of eight episodes. Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, and most of the old cast are onboard, for a new mystery that takes place five years after the events of the Kickstarter-funded movie. I'm looking forward to catching up with all the familiar characters, but being a fan of "The Good Place," I'm glad that this isn't a full revival of the show. The limited series approach sounds just about right, and I hope "Veronica" can keep coming back every few years this way.

The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance - I have very strong doubts as to how watchable this series is going to be. It's all well and good to romanticize doing a longer dark fantasy series starring Jim Henson's muppet creations, but the technological limitations simply can't be ignored. At the same time, I'm immensely curious to see what this is is actually going to look like. How much of the "Dark Crystal" universe can be translated to the small screen? Are they aiming at an audience of nostalgic adults or younger kids? And is Aughra coming back?

The Mandalorian - Production is already well underway, so there's a good chance that we'll see the new "Star Wars" series with Pedro Pascal this year. A strong lineup of directors has been unveiled, the budget is suitably ridiculous, and Jon Favreau certainly seems to be enjoying himself. It'll also cover the time period between the original and sequel trilogies, so there shouldn't be too much crossover with the new movies. And that's a plus for me, as too much interconnectivity has tripped up "Star Wars" media in recent years. I'm hoping this one can stand on its own.

The Boys - I like what Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have done with "Preacher," so I'm interested in seeing what they do with an adaptation of another Garth Ennis comic, "The Boys." This one is about a group of vigilantes who go up against corrupt celebrity superheroes, which is a premise that feels very timely in the current deluge of superhero series. Karl Urban is headliing, and Dan Trachtenberg is directing the pilot. Amazon is giving this an eight-episode first season, which promises to be very bloody, very adult and very subversive.

The Big Bang Theory (Finale) - And finally, I'm not likely to be watching weekly, but I can't help but look forward to upcoming farewell of "The Big Bang Theory." I loved Sheldon and Amy's wedding last year, and I look forward to whatever nerdy shenanigans the creators cook up for the gang to say goodbye. The lives of the characters have pretty closely mirrored my own for the past few years, and though I've drifted away from the show (and most network television), it was always nice to be able to check in once in a while. And I always loved sitcom finales.

Happy watching.
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My Least Anticipated Films of 2019

In January, with every title yet unseen, it's easy to be optimistic about the forthcoming year in cinema. Alas, bad movies are inevitable and 2019 will have no shortage of them. So below, I'll discuss some of the most groan-worthy titles that have somehow found their way to the slate of upcoming theatrical releases. Please keep in mind that I sincerely hope that I'm wrong about all of the movies in this post, and that they beat the odds and actually turn out to be decent cinema. But if past years are any indication, it's likely this will be the last time you see discussion of any of these titles on this blog.

Let's start with Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy. I like McCarthy, but her collaborations with her husband have been uniformly terrible, and there are two on the schedule for next year. First comes "Margie Claus," a musical about Santa's wife having to fill in for him one fateful Christmas. Then there's "Super Intelligence," where McCarthy plays an ordinary woman who has to contend with a rogue AI voiced by James Corden. These are both currently slotted for late in the year, and they may end up delayed or cancelled. McCarthy is also in a third movie not directed by Falcone, "The Kitchen," about a trio of mobster wives, that looks far more promising.

Next year will also see several adaptations of popular children's characters and toy tie-ins. I'm very doubtful about the live-action animation hybrid films about Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog, but there's enough good talent involved in these that I'm willing to wait and see. Ditto the live-action "Dora the Explorer," which has been rejiggered into a Latino family adventure film. However, I'm not holding my breath for the animated "UglyDolls" and "Playmobil" movies, both based on toy lines. Next year will also see the return of the "Angry Birds" and "The Secret Life of Pets" franchises, which both had less-than-stellar first films. But hey, I was wrong about "Hotel Transylvania: Summer Vacation." You never know with kids' films.

There is also going to be a bumper crop of iffy-sounding remakes. French film "Intouchables" will soon become "The Upside" with Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart. Mexican crime film "Miss Bala," is getting an American update with Gina Rodriguez. And then there's Roland Emmerich, disaster film impresario, who will be returning cineplexes with a new version of "Midway," the 1976 WWII film. The involvement of Woody Harrelson and Luke Evans probably won't be enough to counter the inevitable CGI effects overload or a complete disregard of historical accuracy. Taraji P. Henson will be leading a gender-swapped version of "What Women Want" called "What Men Want." It looks good on paper, but it's Adam Shankman at the helm, so I'd approach with extreme caution.

Of course there are the usual suspects. "Annabelle" is getting another sequel. Tyler Perry will soon present "A Madea Family Funeral." We can also expect several Christian themed films with political messages from the faith-based film community, including the pro-life "Unplanned" and "Roe v. Wade." The latter kept losing cast and crew over the course of its disastrous production last year, but I expect that we'll see it in some form anyway. Adam Sandler's latest comedy will also premiere on Netflix, one "Murder Mystery" co-starring Jennifer Aniston. Netflix has turned into a real clearinghouse for cinematic blunders lately, and I expect a few more of their acquisitions will turn out to be busts.

Still, the really awful films have been getting harder to spot. Uwe Boll, Friedberg and Seltzer, and Paul W.S. Anderson have all be scarce for a while. Studios have been curbing the number of theatrical releases, preferring to send their commercially riskier offerings to VOD or streaming to cut down on costs. Sure, there are always going to be a couple of bad horror pictures made on the cheap, underwhelming action schlock, and tone-deaf prestige pics at a theater near you, but the egregiously bad stuff has been scarce. This year's post was harder to write than usual, and I really had to go digging to turn up some of the titles.

With any luck, in a couple of years I won't need to write this post at all.
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