Happy New Year! This week we talk gangsters, an historical tragedy, and Emma Watson’s (autotuned?) voice.

KING OF THE HILL

Even though it’s not out yet, the controversial film, Split has grossed $2 million. Most of the other films at the top of the box office worldwide are international films. In Split, James McAvoy’s character has dissociative identity disorder, and his character’s kidnapping of three young women has had the public – and some critics – crying foul. This film will be out in the Lower Mainland next week.

OUT THIS WEEK

Live By Night

Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, this film is set in 1920’s-30’s American gangster land. Joe Coughlin (Affleck) is the prodigal son of a Boston police captain who ends up on the wrong side of the law.

The film also stars Zoe Saldana and Elle Fanning.

Patriots’ Day

A film about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, this stars Mark Wahlberg and Kevin Bacon. The folks who produced Deepwater Horizon earlier this year also worked on this film, which chronicles the day of the bombings, and the lead-up to the pursuit of the suspects.

While the film is getting a lot of pushback from Boston-based critics and publications for “glamourizing” the incident – which claimed three lives and injured about 260 people) the film was chosen by the U.S. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures as one of their top ten films in 2016.

The Bye Bye Man

This did not screen for critics locally in Vancouver, but it did screen in other markets – and it didn’t do very well at 28%. It’s a horror film about three college students who come into contact with a nasty figure that makes people do bad things.

Monster Trucks

This is a 3D live-action film about a high school senior that builds a monster truck – it ends up inhabited by some kind of strange, subterranean creature – and fun (or chaos) ensues. While this does get a local shout-out for being shot here in Kamloops, this film has been through the wringer: for instance, release dates being moved numerous times.

It’s sitting at 30% at Rotten Tomatoes.

TRAILERS THAT HAVE PEOPLE TALKING

Beauty and the Beast

We saw yet another spot come out, this time at the Golden Globes last Sunday. It was one of the first times I’ve heard Emma Watson sing, and I found her sounding a little…autotuned. This is probably not the last spot we’ll get for the Disney live-action film, which is out on March 17th.

John Wick 2

No word yet if he’s here to save a dog, but the legendary assassin – played by Keanu Reeves – is suiting up to take on a whole fleet of assassins. The spots have been short – and I applaud these guys for not giving the entire film away in a spate of trailers – but we’ll see what Wick is up to this time around on February 10th.

OUT ON BLURAY, DVD & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

You can grab The Accountant (Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick), Deepwater Horizon (Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell), Kevin Hart: What Now? (Kevin Hart, Halle Berry) and Before I Wake (Jacob Tremblay, Kate Bosworth) for your home viewing purposes.

As for my FLASHBACK FRIDAY – for the Friday the 13th, you can catch Freddy vs. Jason at 11:30 PM tonight – at The Rio!

 

TAKE A LISTEN TO THE REEL REPORT BELOW!

The Reel Report: The Beauty May Not Be A Beauty https://t.co/TeuOlajny6

— Ria Renouf (@RiaCKNW980) January 13, 2017