Robert DeNiro has been in numerous “R” rated films over the years, but most of those were due to violence. In the case of Dirty Grandpa, he takes on a raunchy party comedy in which he plays a recently widowed veteran who tricks his uptight adult grandson (Zac Efron) into going on a road trip for Spring Break in Florida.
As the title would indicate, expect a lot of foul language and content typical of a party comedy. It will likely not win DeNiro any more awards and while he has done numerous comedies over the years, this looks like an interesting departure for the veteran actor.
After being released in a limited number of theatres in Canada last weekend, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi gets a wider release this weekend. Most of us have heard about Benghazi as it has been politicized in the United States, but most probably do not know the whole story of what happened. The movie tells the story of six elite ex-military operators assigned to protect the CIA who fought back against overwhelming odds when terrorists attacked a US diplomatic compound on September 11, 2012.
Director Michael Bay is best known for his big budget popcorn movies like Armageddon, Transformers and Pearl Harbour, but 13 Hours is a more serious effort to show the intensity of battle and that it is gritty and not glamorous.
The 5th Wave is yet another attempt to cash in the popularity of adapting popular young adult novels into movies. In this case Chloe Grace Moretz stars as a young woman trying to save her younger brother from an imminent alien invasion. The first four waves of aliens have all but destroyed normal life on Earth and the 5th wave could be the deadliest. Moretz (Kick-Ass, The Equalizer) and Liev Schreiber (Spotlight) bring some great talent to the film and the film looks well produced, but it may not do enough at the box office to finish the trilogy of books.
The Boy is a creepy sounding supernatural thriller about a young American woman who takes a job as a nanny in a remote village in the United Kingdom. Upon arrival, she learns that the child she was hired to care for is actually a life-size porcelain doll that the parents treat like a real boy to cope with the death of their son 20 years earlier. After she ignores a list of strict rules, she starts experiencing disturbing events that lead her to believe that the doll may be more alive than she originally thought.
The Masked Saint is based on true events surrounding former professional wrestler Chris Samuels who retires from the ring to settle down as a small town pastor. After he witnesses rampant problems in the community, he decides to moonlight as a masked vigilante. While he struggles with crisis at both home and the church, Samuel must also reconcile his secret, violent identity with his calling as a pastor. The late wrestler Roddy Piper makes his final appearance in this film and the movie is dedicated to his memory.