On this episode of Why Watch That:

FIRST LOOK

Roald Dahl’s The Witches

Website: HBO Max

Synopsis: Reimagining Dahl’s beloved story for a modern audience, Zemeckis’s visually innovative film tells the darkly humorous and heartwarming tale of a young orphaned boy (Bruno) who, in late 1967, goes to live with his loving Grandma (Spencer) in the rural Alabama town of Demopolis. As the boy and his grandmother encounter some deceptively glamorous but thoroughly diabolical witches, she wisely whisks our young hero away to an opulent seaside resort. Regrettably, they arrive at precisely the same time that the world’s Grand High Witch (Hathaway) has gathered her fellow cronies from around the globe — undercover — to carry out her nefarious plans.

Release Date: October 22, 2020 (HBO Max); October 28 (in theaters internationally)
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Screenplay by: Robert Zemeckis, Kenya Barris, and Guillermo del Toro
Based on the book by Roald Dahl
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Kristin Chenoweth, Chris Rock, and Jahzir Kadeen Bruno
Distributor: HBO Max (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family
Running Time: 1 hour 46 minutes
Rated PG

HBO TV SNEAK PEEK

Industry

Website: HBO

MOVIE SNEAK PEEKS

Let Him Go 

Website: Focus Features

Synopsis: Following the loss of their son, retired sheriff George Blackledge (Costner) and his wife Margaret (Lane) leave their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas, headed by matriarch Blanche Weboy. When they discover the Weboys have no intention of letting the child go, George and Margaret are left with no choice but to fight for their family.

Release Date: November 6, 2020
Directed by: Thomas Bezucha
Screenplay by: Thomas Bezucha
Based on the book by Larry Watson
Starring: Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Lesley Manville, and Jeffrey Donovan
Distributor: Focus Features
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Running Time: 1 hour 54 minutes
Rated R

Jungleland

Website: Paramount Movies

Synopsis: Stan (Charlie Hunnam) and Lion (Jack O’Connell) are two brothers struggling to stay relevant in the underground world of bare-knuckle boxing. When Stan fails to pay back a dangerous crime boss (Jonathon Majors), they’re forced to deliver an unexpected traveler as they journey across the country for a high-stakes fighting tournament. While Stan trains Lion for the fight of his life, a series of events threaten to tear the brothers apart but their love for one another and belief in a better life keep them going in this gripping drama that proves family pulls no punches.

Release Date: November 6, 2020 (in select theaters); November 10, 2020 (Premium VOD)
Directed by: Max Winkler
Screenplay by: Theodore Bressman, David Branson Smith, and Max Winkler
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Jack O’Connell, Jessica Barden, Jonathan Majors, and John Cullum
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Rated R

Proxima

Website: Unifrance

Synopsis: Sarah (Eva Green) is a French astronaut training at the European Space Agency in Cologne. She is the only woman in the arduous program. She lives alone with Stella, her seven-year-old daughter. Sarah feels guilty that she cannot spend more time with her child. Her love is overpowering, unsettling. When Sarah is chosen to be part of the crew of a year-long space mission called ‘Proxima,’ it creates chaos in the mother-daughter relationship.

Release Date: November 6, 2020 (Digital and VOD)
Directed by: Alice Winocour
Screenplay by: Alice Winocour with Jean-Stéphane Bron
Starring: Eva Green and Matt Dillon
Distributor: Vertical Entertainment
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 1 hour 47 minutes
Not Rated