THIS VIDEO IS THE PROPERTY OF  WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Release Date: Feb 23

Starring: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Sharon Horgan, Kyle Chandler

A comedy film with a Mystery/Suspense mix: this movie centers around a couples’ game night gone horribly and bizarrely wrong. Max (Bateman) and Annie (McAdams) are attendees at the game night hosted by Max’s brother Brooks (Chandler) who arranges a murder mystery party full of gangsters, fake thugs and fake federal agents. It’s all in good fun until… the host gets kidnapped!  However none of the participants are aware of the very real danger until they are thrust into life threatening situations while trying to solve the mystery.

This film has an interesting premise which can set the stage for plenty of hilarious gimmicks and hi-jinks (as proven by the trailer); so my hopes for this one are fairly high. I am curious to see how the film-makers will balance out the comedy with the fairly serious undertones of the plot though: will they provide a satisfying conclusion to the mystery or will the story-line be compromised for the sake of a few laughs?

And the next one is:

#7 The Death of Stalin

THIS VIDEO IS THE PROPERTY OF ENTERTAINMENT ONE UK

Release Date: Mar. 9

Starring: Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Simon Russell Beale, Rupert Friend

Contrary to what the film’s title would have you believe – this is not a historical drama. The film is set in 1953, Josef Stalin’s secret police and various toadies help him cement his totalitarian rule over Soviet Russia. Then, suddenly Stalin dies – leaving a power vacuum the size of a canyon – which his former toadies take turns jumping into and greedily grabbing for any scrap of power that lands in their grasp. The master satirist that is Armando Iannucci turns this scenario into a rib-cracking-ly funny farcical comedy of errors that leaves you breathless and entertained. If you squint you might see the tongue-in-cheek references to current political corruption and chaos that is hidden in this hilarious movies’ underbelly.

Onwards my fair steed!

#6 Ocean’s 8