This Weekend's Movie Predictions

A (slightly) new weekly series on my intuition or gut-feeling of how movies will be received by audiences and critics at the theatres. Mostly I score this by the trailers & marketing impressions I've seen.


This Week


Chimpanzee
My prediction: Yes
This documentary looks really well done, and I imagine Disney had the funding to spare no expense. The story behind this project is that the film crew were documenting the baby chimp and his mother, when the mother died. Stuff hit the fan at that point, thinking months of footage was wasted, until it was developed into a story about adoption. I think this is a very good spin on what could have been simply a tragedy. 


I will mention that I respect the work of Jane Goodall very much. In fourth grade I remember writing a book report and giving a presentation on her work. When everyone else was selecting sports stars and celebrities, I found something so fascinating about a woman who would devote the prime years of her life studying anthropology. But my bias aside, I do think this will be well received by families. 


Damsels in Distress
My prediction: No
Despite the note-worthy actors (Adam Brody, Greta Gerwig, Analeigh Tipton, et al.) this feels more like an attempt at art rather than art itself. Maybe because it tries to be instead of just being. 


From the trailer I gathered that the story is about a sociology student at a female-only-turned-coed school who lets her friends use boys to experiment social norms. The campus is their lab and the boys are their test subjects. Theories of how to condition and observe the self are analyzed and evaluated. Or it can be none of that. 


The Lucky One
My prediction: Yes
This is a good risk for Zac Effron to break out of the musical scene and transition to more serious projects. 17 Again was not as successful for him so let's see if this can do better.


In terms of story, it can go either way. Of course that's the safe answer, but it's also because it's another title to the long list author Nicholas Sparks has already. 


Based on the trailer, I can see this story really resonating with people. The notion of holding onto a secret that you can't, for sentimental reason, share with a person. This movie has potential to say something significant about life and love that probably hasn't been done since A Walk To Remember. 
  
Think Like A Man
My prediction: No
Typically stereotypical, and not even in the funny sense. Sure it can form life lessons at the end, but if I mentally checked-out halfway through the trailer, not sure if I can make it through the movie.


Points for the cast and the music selection though.