Looking at the Weekend: Aug. 28-30, 2015

Apart from this being the last weekend in August, the upcoming Labor Day holiday means the studios are dumping everything they don’t suspect will be a hit into these remaining weeks. As such, the competition this week will be anemic with the little-advertised No Escape facing off against the teen-targeted We Are Your Friends. Neither have had particularly effective promotional campaigns and neither tackle subjects that would appeal to a broad demographic, further narrowing their potential audience.

Our Highest Rated Films: Z for Zachariah
Our Best Awards Ratings: The Second Mother

OTHER LIMITED RELEASES

Memories of the Sword

Aug. 28-30, 2015
Film	Our Thoughts	Awards Chances
No Escape (Wide Release) See the original CinemaSight Trailer & Poster Preview	3.8 Wesley Lovell: (6) Peter J. Patrick: (2) Tripp Burton: (4) Thomas LaTourrette: (3)	nil Wesley Lovell: (nil) Peter J. Patrick: (nil) Tripp Burton: (nil) Thomas LaTourrette: (nil)	Categories: None
	Individual Commentary:
	Wesley Lovell (WL): There is definitely potential here, but the marketing has been awful and doesn’t make it look exceptional. Peter J. Patrick (PP): It’s classified as a thriller but looks more like an overheated melodrama to me. Tripp Burton (TB): Looks pretty bland, but could be good late-night cable fodder in a couple of years. Thomas LaTourette (TL): Owen Wilson is just not one of my favorite actors, and trying to recast him as a frantic dad / action hero does not seem like it will do him any favors. The trailer looks moderately interesting, but I am still dubious.
Film	Our Thoughts	Awards Chances
We Are Your Friends (Wide Release) See the original CinemaSight Trailer & Poster Preview	2.5 Wesley Lovell: (4) Peter J. Patrick: (2) Tripp Burton: (2) Thomas LaTourrette: (2)	nil Wesley Lovell: (nil) Peter J. Patrick: (nil) Tripp Burton: (nil) Thomas LaTourrette: (nil)	Categories: None
	Individual Commentary:
	Wesley Lovell (WL): There are other films about aspiring DJ’s that look more appealing than this film. Peter J. Patrick (PP): Looks another loud, stupid waste of Zac Efron’s limited talent. Tripp Burton (TB): No one involved in this makes me want to see it Thomas LaTourette (TL): Zac Efron as DJ trying to find his way just looks like a mediocre movie, a poor man’s Wolf of Wall Street. Maybe it will be better than it looks, but I have no real desire to see it. More for fans of Zac and the party scene.
Film	Our Thoughts	Awards Chances
Drown (Limited Release) See the original CinemaSight Trailer & Poster Preview	4.8 Wesley Lovell: (5) Peter J. Patrick: (6) Tripp Burton: (2) Thomas LaTourrette: (6)	nil Wesley Lovell: (nil) Peter J. Patrick: (nil) Tripp Burton: (nil) Thomas LaTourrette: (nil)	Categories: None
	Individual Commentary:
	Wesley Lovell (WL): It could be interesting, but that’s based on premise not that lackluster trailer. Peter J. Patrick (PP): Interesting looking Australian sports film could be a minor art-house hit. Tripp Burton (TB): Surfing movies aren’t really my thing, but the visuals look interesting if it is your thing. Thomas LaTourette (TL): A homoerotic thriller of hard partying lifeguards and surfers sounds like more fun than the dark trailer makes it look. It looks like it spends more time in the clubs than getting into the deeper emotions of the characters.
Film	Our Thoughts	Awards Chances
The Second Mother (Limited Release) See the original CinemaSight Trailer & Poster Preview	4.5 Wesley Lovell: (2) Peter J. Patrick: (4) Tripp Burton: (5) Thomas LaTourrette: (7)	nil Wesley Lovell: (nil) Peter J. Patrick: (nil) Tripp Burton: (nil) Thomas LaTourrette: (7,Oscars)	Categories: Foreign Film (TL)
	Individual Commentary:
	Wesley Lovell (WL): It just doesn’t look that appealing or fascinating. Peter J. Patrick (PP): Brazilian women’s film isn’t likely to burn up the box-office. Tripp Burton (TB): This looks like an interesting hit, and it came from Sundance, but I will probably wait until it is streaming. Thomas LaTourette (TL): This sounds like the best of the bunch. A Brazilian housekeeper figuring out what life is like for both her family and the family she takes care of.
Film	Our Thoughts	Awards Chances
War Room (Limited Release) See the original CinemaSight Trailer & Poster Preview	1.8 Wesley Lovell: (0) Peter J. Patrick: (4) Tripp Burton: (2) Thomas LaTourrette: (1)	nil Wesley Lovell: (nil) Peter J. Patrick: (nil) Tripp Burton: (nil) Thomas LaTourrette: (nil)	Categories: None
	Individual Commentary:
	Wesley Lovell (WL): I’ve never found this genre of films interesting and this one looks particularly cloying and manipulative. Peter J. Patrick (PP): Routine religious film looks like it’ll be preaching to the choir for its box office. Tripp Burton (TB): I know there’s an audience for this genre of film out there, but I’m not it. If you are, then this will probably be a hit for you. Thomas LaTourette (TL): This just reads like a bad religious movie. I am not planning on seeing this one whatsoever.
Film	Our Thoughts	Awards Chances
Z for Zachariah (Limited Release) See the original CinemaSight Trailer & Poster Preview	6.0 Wesley Lovell: (5) Peter J. Patrick: (5) Tripp Burton: (8) Thomas LaTourrette: (6)	nil Wesley Lovell: (nil) Peter J. Patrick: (nil) Tripp Burton: (3,Critics) Thomas LaTourrette: (nil)	Categories: Writing (TB)
	Individual Commentary:
	Wesley Lovell (WL): There’s something off-putting about the trailer and I cannot get past the feeling that it’s not going to be nearly as good as a festival entry should be. Peter J. Patrick (PP): Looks a lot like 1959’s The World, the Flesh and the Devil which could be either good or bad depending on how well it resurrects the material. Tripp Burton (TB): I loved Craig Zobel’s Compliance, so I’m excited to see what he comes up with next. Thomas LaTourette (TL): A post nuclear war film that is based more on character study than special effects. It has an interesting premise, though it sounds like it does not quite deliver the goods. Margot Robbie is said to be terrific in the leading role.