FIRST LOOK: Mortal Kombat

Historically movies based on videogames have been trash. Some have been better trash than others, but the vast majority of movies haven’t captured the videogame stories — which in fairness are usually very short stories — as good as they could.

Maybe movies should be anthologies of several videogames instead of full-length movies?

Anyway, the new Mortal Kombat movie, a game that has already been made into several movies, is hitting the big screen and it looks like it’s capturing a lot of what makes the videogame so cool: gruesome gory fatalities and finishing moves, plenty of martial arts and the signature character designs.

MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?

Movie Insider: Mortal Kombat

Teaser trailer (you’ll have to visit YouTube to watch the official restricted trailer, which is even more graphic)

We just advance reserved our tickets for opening day. Not seeing this one in IMAX or any other special format, although it looks like that might be a good way to see it as well. Are you planning on seeing in theater or catching on HBO Max?

Mortal Kombat opens in United States theaters and will be streaming on HBO Max Friday April 23, 2021.

FIRST LOOK: In The Earth

As we look at the IMDB story description for this week’s new movie in theaters, it can’t help but give a sense of de ja vus. A little bit, anyway.

As the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the forest for a routine equipment run.

IMDB: In The Earth

Yeah, it sounds timely, at the least. Obviously, it’s going a more horrific, dramatic direction than what the world is currently going through, but it will be interesting to see a movie that has this central theme and idea during the current time.

I remember following 9/11 there was a lot of concern about being able to cover anything involving buildings coming down, terrorists in planes and the like. This isn’t quite the same thing, of course, but it’s vaguely reminiscent.

The trailer:

We will be watching this week, perhaps tonight, as tickets haven’t been reserved yet, but we’re talking it over. What about you? Anybody else seeing this movie this weekend in theaters?

In The Earth opens wide in United States theaters on April 16, 2021.

FIRST LOOK: Voyagers

Earth is decaying and life cannot continue. An 86 year voyage is planned with a crew of children and their grandchildren will be the Adam and Eve’s of this new planet.

With the future of the human race at stake, a group of young men and women, bred for intelligence and obedience, embark on an expedition to colonize a distant planet. But when they uncover disturbing secrets about the mission, they defy their training and begin to explore their most primitive natures. As life on the ship descends into chaos, they’re consumed by fear, lust, and the unsatiable hunger for power.

Voyagers Plot Info via MovieInsider.com

Tye Sheridan is back in a sci-fi role. Last caught him as the main character in Ready Player One. We actually saw this last night, and realized there wasn’t a FIRST LOOK for it yet, so putting this out there for others who might be curious about this one.

Trailer:

Are you interested in seeing this one?

Voyagers is available in theaters as of April 8, 2021.

FIRST LOOK: French Exit

The movies opening in theaters are trickling in each week, but some flow has been better than none and the schedule is looking brighter as the spring works its way into summer.

“My plan was to die before the money ran out,” says 60-year-old penniless Manhattan socialite Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer), but things didn’t go as planned. Her husband Franklin has been dead for 12 years and with his vast inheritance gone, she cashes in the last of her possessions and resolves to live out her twilight days anonymously in a borrowed apartment in Paris, accompanied by her directionless son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) and a cat named Small Frank—who may or may not embody the spirit of Frances’s dead husband.

French Exit plot summary via Movie Insider

Official trailer:

French Exit is scheduled to open in the United States theaters on April 2, 2021.

FIRST LOOK: Nobody

With one of the cleverest one word titles, this story and the trailer have captured our interest. We have tickets to see it later tonight.

When two thieves break into his suburban home one night, Hutch declines to defend himself or his family, hoping to prevent serious violence. His teenage son, Blake, is disappointed in him and his wife, Becca, seems to pull only further away. The aftermath of the incident strikes a match to Hutch’s long-simmering rage, triggering dormant instincts and propelling him on a brutal path that will surface dark secrets and lethal skills. In a barrage of fists, gunfire and squealing tires, Hutch must save his family from a dangerous adversary and ensure that he will never be underestimated as a nobody again.

Everything You Need to Know About Nobody Movie (2021)

Official trailer:

Are you planning on seeing this in theaters, waiting for streaming or skipping?

Nobody is widely screening in theaters as of March 26, 2021.

FIRST LOOK: The Courier

Do you gauge interest in movies you’re looking forward to by how often you see the preview? Will admit we sort of do. It’s hard to deny when you’ve seen a preview many times, that you aren’t more motivated to see it. Assuming you like the trailer, that is.

THE COURIER is a true-life spy thriller, the story of an unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. At the behest of the UK’s MI-6 and a CIA operative (Rachel Brosnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Everything You Need to Know About The Courier Movie (2021)

Official trailer:

This on your watchlist?

The Courier will be screening in theaters on March 19, 2021.

FIRST LOOK: Chaos Walking (2021)

Patrick Ness is not an author I’m familiar with, but he’s been blessed by having his novel made into a movie — and at an estimated $125 million, a large budget sci-fi, they are going all in on what sounds like a curious story idea.

Chaos Walking, based on the Patrick Ness book, is set in a world where all the woman have died, and all the men project their thoughts into the ether (you can see how the movie will visualize that, known as “the noise,” in these clips). Ridley plays Viola, a traveler who crash-lands on the planet and instantly becomes the most fish out of water that ever fished.

Chaos Walking Tom Holland Daisy Ridley Sci-Fi Movie New Clips

From Lionsgate, but haven’t seen any preview trailers in theaters for this one oddly enough. Science fiction films can be polarizing.

Official trailer:

Chaos Walking will open in theaters on March 5, 2021.

FIRST LOOK: Boogie (2021)

When it comes to sports movies, I’d rank interest in basketball somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t have the violence of football or hockey, but is faster paced than baseball. It involves a fewer number of players on an active team than baseball and football, giving that a shortened number of characters. Alas, baseball and basketball have a lot more games in a season than football making a movie covering a season longer.

That’s the sports angle only, now a single player in any sport could be the focus or the coach, which is often what sports movies choose. That’s the case with Boogie, a gifted basketball player.

The coming-of-age story of Alfred “Boogie” Chin, a basketball phenom living in Queens, New York, who dreams of one day playing in the NBA. While his parents pressure him to focus on earning a scholarship to an elite college, Boogie must find a way to navigate a new girlfriend, high school, on-court rivals and the burden of expectation.

Everything You Need to Know About Boogie Movie (2021)

Official trailer:

Based on the trailer and description, this seems to check off multiple drama and entertainment boxes: a coming of age story, a gifted athlete, social and cultural opposition. By the time you read this FIRST LOOK we will have seen the movie already, as we’re watching this on Thursday 3/4 at the theater. It is after this was written, so we can only speculate how much we’re looking forward to seeing it.

We chose to see this before the other two new movies in theaters: Chaos Walking and Raya and the Last Dragon because this seemed like the film most likely to be of interest to both us. Kara isn’t really interested in the other two that much, but I’m also interested, perhaps mores in Chaos Walking, but this one could be good. Are you planning on seeing Boogie in theaters, waiting for it to come out on streaming or going to pass?

Boogie is available in theaters as of March 4, 2021.

FIRST LOOK: Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry (2021) – Apple TV+

We don’t typically do FIRST LOOK here for documentaries, in fact this might be the first ever. It’s a special case, though, because since theaters have reopened we’ve seen the trailer in theaters almost every time. Apple is actively promoting this film.

Am also not that familiar with the music of young artist, Billie Eilish and her brother. She’s been enormously popular and with her brother created the theme to James Bond #25 No Time To Die. I’ve heard that. Also listened to another song on YouTube.

Her music isn’t my genre of choice, but I can appreciate the talent and her story — at least what little of it I know. She started in the business at 13 and has at least one EP and full album and several singles. The documentary will fill in the blanks for those of us who haven’t followed this artist.

The coming-of-age story of the singer-songwriter and her rise to global superstardom. From award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler, the documentary offers a deeply intimate look at this extraordinary teenager’s journey, at just seventeen years old, navigating life on the road, on stage, and at home with her family, while writing, recording and releasing her debut album “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?”

Everything You Need to Know About Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry Movie (2021)

Official trailer:

I must ask, at least in curiosity, what’s the deal with the green hair? We had a birthday party for our six-year-old grandson this past weekend and friends of the family came over. He has three young daughters and all of them had, insert dramatic music, green hair.

Has Billie Eilish started a trend for girls and green hair? It looks …. alien-like to me. Maybe it’s her style? In my day, Cyndi Lauper dressed wild and her hair was wacky. Maybe Eilish is today’s Lauper? I don’t know.

Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry is streaming on Apple TV+ on February 26, 2021.

FIRST LOOK: The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) – Hulu

Billie Holliday was a popular black jazz singer in the 30s-50s in trouble with the feds over narcotics usage and singing the song “Strange Fruit” they didn’t want sang. The song dealt with a lynching.

Follows Holiday during her career as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics with an undercover sting operation led by black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she had a tumultuous affair.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) – IMDb

Official trailer:

Drugs, jazz, fears of being arrested for singing and an affair with the fed who is assigned to watch her plus based on a true story? I’m there. What about you? Interested in this one?

The United States vs. Billie Holiday is available for streaming on Hulu on February 26, 2021.