While March isn’t known as a dump month like January and February, it’s arguably even more of a hit-and-miss month than February is. We’ll see some ambitious releases though they’ll be to varying degrees of success, and the last few years hasn’t seen too many March releases that stick out by the end of the year. This year should break that trend, as we’ll see two wide releases that should definitely stick out like sore thumbs by the time we get to the end of the year (which we’ll get to in just a bit). As for everything else, there are certainly plenty of intriguing releases, though unlike many of this year’s February releases, we haven’t heard a whole lot about many of them, and may not find out more until it gets close to the release dates. Still, despite a few of this month’s films being a bit questionable, there’s still plenty to keep on the radar. Here’s what you should keep an eye out for this month:
1) Greta - March 1
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Chloe Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Colm Feore
This seems like one of those movies that has a “love it or hate it” sort of vibe to it. It seems like it has sort of a Fatal Attraction or Misery vibe to it, with one creepy character developing a total obsession over the other. The plot seems like it’s a bit predictable, though the trailers indicate that both Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz are giving it their all. With a release date of the 1st, reviews are already in, and are split right down the middle, only inching slightly more towards the positive than the negative. Critics have noted that this feels like a B-movie, despite its talented cast, and is actually incredibly campy. So either you’ll find it so ridiculous that you’ll enjoy it or it’ll be too preposterous and drive you away. It may be better to wait for On Demand to check this out, but it should at the very least be an intriguing hour and a half.
2) Captain Marvel - March 8
Directed by: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Jude Law
This is the first of the two movies I mentioned that will definitely still be on everyone’s minds by the end of the year. It’s the last Marvel movie before we get to Endgame. It’s also another Marvel venture into space, and if there’s one thing that the studio has proven in their last few releases, is that they’re at the strongest when they start getting into the oddities of deep space. While this doesn’t look like it’ll be as comical as the Guardians of the Galaxy movies or Thor: Ragnarok, it’s sure to be a great time, with some of the sequences of the titular hero in action looking stellar. The film will also see Samuel L. Jackson once more in a prominent role as Nick Fury, after having mostly been absent or in cameo roles in many of the MCU’s more recent releases, and at the very least, it looks like he’s having a ball with the role, especially as he’s digitally de-aged to look like his younger self. Plus, the fact that Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are behind the camera certainly adds to the film’s promise, as they’ve proven to be quite competent filmmakers with releases such as Half Nelson and Mississippi Grind.
3) Gloria Bell - March 8
Directed by: Sebastian Lelio
Starring: Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Michael Cera, Brad Garrett
This one is definitely not going to be for everyone. One can take one look at the trailer for this movie and tell this is clearly aimed for much older audiences. So I can easily see this one coming and going very quickly at the box office, having really only seen trailers for it played at independent movie theaters. But it looks like it’s well-intentioned enough and should be a solid acting vehicle for Julianne Moore. Like last month’s Cold Pursuit - and this will be the only time I can see these two movies being used in the same sentence - this is another remake of a foreign language film that’s also being directed by the original film’s director, in this case Sebastian Lelio, whose work has often seen critical acclaim. Plus the film has a talented cast besides Moore, with actors who haven’t been seen in as prominent lately like John Turturro and Michael Cera playing large supporting roles. Besides the talented director and talented cast, the film is also being distributed by indie favorite A24, who usually choose quality films to take under their wing. The trailer looks like it gets in a few good laughs, and the few reviews that are in so far have all been positive, so this should be a warm, sweet - if small-scale - romantic dramedy for the first quarter of the year.
4) The Kid - March 8
Directed by: Vincent D’Onofrio
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Dane DeHaan, Jake Schur, Leila George, Chris Pratt
Vincent D’Onofrio only released one other movie as a director, and it was Don’t Go In the Woods, a horror musical that was barely seen by anyone and released on Video on Demand back in 2010. This will be his first time behind the camera for a bigger budgeted release, so there’s truly no telling how he’s going to be as a director. This movie can easily go either way. The trailers don’t look bad by any means, but it does look a bit by-the-numbers, and it didn’t sound like newcomer Jake Schur was someone who was really going to “wow” audiences. However, also judging by the trailers, it seems like there are a decent amount of fun action sequences that can make up for its generic story line, so one shouldn’t completely count this movie out just yet. The most intriguing aspect of this entire movie is seeing Chris Pratt in a complete change of pace, playing the film’s villain. We only saw him briefly in the trailer and don’t know exactly yet how he’s going to play this up, but it could easily make for one of the best parts of this movie if done right.
5) Triple Frontier - March 13
Directed by: J.C. Chandor
Starring: Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, Pedro Pascal
Another one that can easily go one way or the other. Honestly, this looked like a fairly standard movie judging by the trailers. The official synopsis makes it a point that it has themes of loyalty, morality, and survival. The characters are all seen throughout the trailer either brooding or giving preachy speeches. This seems like it’s going to be pretty heavy-handed. But I could be wrong. The main reason this one got included is the fact that not only is the cast an incredibly talented bunch of individuals, but it also pulled in a respectable director. J.C. Candor isn’t exactly a well-known name, but he does have some solid credits to his filmography, including thrillers such as Margin Call and A Most Violent Year. His films often have smaller releases, though this will be his most ambitious project yet, as it looks to go for a broader appeal (especially due to the fact it’s getting released on Netflix), being more of a straightforward action movie. While expectations certainly aren’t high just yet, there’s too much talent involved to totally disqualify this movie from being a surprise hit.
6) Us - March 22
Directed by: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Evan Alex, Shahadi Wright Joseph
The second movie released this month that will almost certainly be highly remembered by the end of the year. Once Get Out was released, people were closely monitoring what Jordan Peele’s next project would be, so this was already highly anticipated before we even got one piece of footage. But the trailers for this confirmed our expectations that this will be another incredibly wild ride. Unlike Get Out, which was a hybrid of comedy and horror to create a satire of racial relations, this looks to be a complete deep-dive into the horror genre, which Peele himself has described as “spill-your-soda-scary.” While the trailers revealed enough but still only giving us so much, we’re sure Peele has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, and we’re in for another classic entry in the horror genre.
7) Dragged Across Concrete - March 22
Directed by: S. Craig Zahler
Starring: Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson
The trailer for this one looks a little all over the place, but if there’s one vibe that it definitely gives off, is that this will be a fun little action movie. Director S. Craig Zahler proved he’s got a knack for genre work with his previous two movies, the horror western Bone Tomahawk and the action thriller Brawl in Cell Block 99. While the latter leaned a bit more on the overly grim side, this follow up looks like it’ll be a much quicker pace. Plus it’ll be great to see Mel Gibson work once again in the action-thriller genre, with some of his recent work in the genre proving that he’s still got plenty of bite left in him. Early reviews for this are already out and have been mostly positive, if not the acclaim that Zahler’s previous two movies have received. Either way, this should be a good time.
8) Hotel Mumbai - March 29
Directed by: Anthony Maras
Starring: Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher, Jason Isaacs
Based on the true story of the 2008 Mumbai attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace, this is sure to be one of the more emotional experiences of the year, looking to be something along the lines of United 93. While some of the dialogue seen in the trailer leans a bit more towards the generic side, this is sure to be a solid character piece that will be used for actors like Patel and Hammer to show off their acting chops. Early reviews are out for this one and have so far been positive. While it’s uncertain if this will necessarily be one of the year’s best, it should be a solid thriller as well as a fitting tribute to the victims of the attacks eleven years ago.
9) The Beach Bum - March 29
Directed by: Harmony Korine
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg, Isla Fisher, Jimmy Buffett, Zac Efron, Martin Lawrence, Jonah Hill
I mean, look at that cast list. This is one of the most eclectic group of people to be placed in a movie together, and that alone should immediately put this on your radar. The fact that it’s directed by Harmony Korine, in his first film since his massive cult hit Spring Breakers, is even more reason that you should keep an eye out for this. I’m not going to lie, going by the trailers, I can barely make out what the plot of this movie is really going to be. But whatever it is, it does look totally bonkers. While reviews for this one are not out yet, it does appear to have massive cult movie potential written all over it, and hopefully should be the much superior Matthew McConaughey release of the year, after this year’s Serenity, which was funny but for all the wrong reasons. However this movie ends up turning out, it’ll certainly be a trip, one way or the other.
10) Dumbo - March 29
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin
Look, to be honest, I really don’t have high hopes for this one. The last time Tim Burton directed a live-action Disney adaptation, we got Alice in Wonderland, which was grim, gloomy, and strange for the sake of being strange. At the very least, this does appear like it’ll be a lot more straightforward than Alice in Wonderland. Maybe a bit too straightforward, to say the least. Disney’s live-action remakes have been wildly hit-and-miss altogether but besides Alice in Wonderland (made well before it became a craze), they’ve been at the very least tolerable. This appears to be schmaltzy and heavy handed, but it looks like they did a solid job with the CGI animals, and we’ll maybe get some solid emotional moments out of them. The main reason this is getting included though is Michael Keaton as the villain. After giving us one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s best villains in Spider-Man: Homecoming, hopefully another villainous turn here will make an otherwise generic-looking movie fairly entertaining.
11) The Highwaymen - March 29
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson, Kathy Bates, John Carroll Lynch, Kim Dickens
While director John Lee Hancock mostly handles fairly straightforward pieces, he has proven that he can handle true stories fairly well, and this sees him once again doing what he knows best. And this time around, he has Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson along for the ride, with the two veteran actors as the rangers assigned to take down Bonnie and Clyde. While this doesn’t look like it’ll get into Untouchables territory for Costner, it still looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. Both Costner and Harrelson have proven to be very capable in leading these sorts of films before, and the trailers indicate their chemistry is nothing short of fantastic, with Harrelson getting in some good laughs from the footage we have seen. Between this and Triple Frontier, this looks like it’ll be the superior Netflix release of the month.
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