The Martian (Ridley Scott, USA 2015)

• Every time I’ve seen a commercial or trailer for this, I immediately think it’s a sequel to Interstellar about Dr. Mann’s original mission.
• The pre-release buzz is so high on this film and Andy Weir sounds like a cool guy, though I haven’t read the book, but . . . Ridley Scott. Ridley Scott’s films have essentially been awful for 40 years.
• I’m going to see it when it comes out, but my expectations are not high.

The Walk (Robert Zemeckis, USA 2015)

• I don’t understand people’s fascination with this story.
• The accent seems rather weird, but I assume that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be great, because he’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And I’ll watch it, because it’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Sicario (Denis Villeneuve, USA 2015)

• I’m starting to get to the point that I assume any film with Emily Blunt is worth a try. I’ve never seen her have a lot to do, but she’s been fine, and more importantly the films she’s been in have been great. And it looks like for once she’s trying one that doesn’t include time travel!
• Denis Villeneuve got to have his name in the trailer. That’s pretty unusual for a director, and he’s not a huge name.
• It feels like an eternity since I last saw Benicio del Toro.

Our Brand is Crisis (David Gordon Green, USA 2015)

• What on earth is this movie? It seems to have like a five-act story and none of the acts fit together.
• The trailer has fantastic music. Ten Years After’s “I’d Love to Change the World” is a great song that is forgotten. Alvin Lee was a truly remarkable guitarist. Most people wouldn’t know this, but Ten Years After was one of the most successful acts at Woodstock, blowing more famous people of the stage, because Alvin Lee was so awesome.
• The rise of Sandra Bullock as a respected actor still doesn’t make too much sense to me.
• Every joke in this trailer fell flat.

Secret in Their Eyes (Billy Ray, USA 2015)

• I just kept thinking that this looked like a very familiar story until I saw the title and realized it was a remake of El secreto de sus ojos (Juan José Campanella, Argentina/Spain 2009). I haven’t seen that film in years so I couldn’t remember a lot of specifics, but apparently enough that the story felt familiar.
• The original film is quite good but also a quiet kind of film that I assume will not be allowed in the US. It’s going to be changed into something very different, and probably not something good.
• Hank!

Creed (Ryan Coogler, USA 2015)

• “Let’s remake Rocky! Oh but without Burgess Meredith, who plays Mickey?” . . . “I have it! Stallone!”
• Oddly, Sylvester Stallone is not writing or directing. He was also annoying as hell in the trailer. It’s like he was trying to be everything detractors have called him.