SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (GOOD THINGS UTAH) — We’re headed into a long weekend which means you might be wanting to sit back, relax and enjoy a good movie. Movie reviewer, Tracy Mangum, joined us on the show with some hot takes on films showing now and coming out through the rest of the year. Here’s what he had to say:
The Equalizer 3
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Columbia Pictures
Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.
The Creator
Directed by Gareth Edwards
20th Century Studios
From writer/director Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One,” “Godzilla”) comes an epic sci-fi action thriller set amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence. Joshua (John David Washington, “Tenet”), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Gemma Chan, “Eternals”), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war… and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory… only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child (newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles).
Goal Wins
Director: Taika Waititi
Searchlight Pictures
Directed by Academy Award Winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok), NEXT GOAL WINS follows the American Samoa soccer team, infamous for their brutal 31-0 FIFA loss in 2001. With the World Cup Qualifiers approaching, the team hires down-on-his-luck, maverick coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) hoping he will turn the world’s worst soccer team around in this heartfelt underdog comedy.
Wonka
Directed by Paul King
Warner Brothers
Released Dec. 15
Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, “Wonka” tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.
He can be found at www.moviesthatmakeus.com and on Instagram and Facebook @MoveisThatMakeUsPodcast