‘For Honor’, ‘A Cure for Wellness’ and ‘Big Little Lies’ Are Your Choices for This Long Weekend

Brandon Marcus
TV Movies
TV Movies Games

Your weekend time is valuable and at the end of a long week, your time must be spent to its maximum value. To help narrow down your choices on the film, television, and gaming fronts, the Weekend Preview gives you the rundown of your options and an educated guess as to which ones make the most sense.

Drew predicted the box office returns for these films last Sunday. Check it out!

At the Movies

A Cure for Wellness

Director: Gore Verbinski
Stars: Dane DeHaan, Jason Issacs, Mia Goth
Current RT Meter: 42% Rotten
Drew’s box office prediction: $18,000,000

Well, this week is kind of a bummer, review wise. Let’s get to it, shall we? First up is A Cure for Wellness, the triumphant return of Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Ring) who, at the very least, always knows how to make a gorgeous film. People were pretty excited for this horror movie because it looks different and creepy in all the right ways. That’s welcome news for a genre that far too often gets bogged down in generics and cheap scares. Sadly the reviews for Verbinski’s film have been lukewarm at best. But even if it’s not good, at least it’ll look pretty!

The Verdict: If you’re a horror aficionado, you should check out A Cure for Wellness. The reviews haven’t been encouraging but Verbinski directing a scary movie is always a visual treat.

Fist Fight

Director: Richie Keen
Stars: Ice Cube, Charlie Day, Christina Hendricks
Current RT Meter: 31% Rotten
Drew’s box office prediction: $20,000,000

There are some funny people in Fist Fight. Funny people and a pretty humorous plot too. Yet something about it feels pedestrian and tired. Even the funniest people can’t make a crappy script good. The reviews for Fist Fight back up that theory which is a damn shame. This should be good but it seems like it’s not. There might be a few chuckles in there, though. So if you’ve got a strong hankering for some laughs (even if they’re minor), Fist Fight might be worth your time.

The Verdict: Fist Fight sounds like another comedy that could have been so much more. But maybe you’re a die-hard comedy fan who understandably loves the cast. If not, you might want to save your cash for something that’ll really make you laugh.

The Great Wall

Director: Zhang Yimou 
Stars: Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal
Current RT Meter: 32% Rotten
Drew’s box office prediction: $29,000,000

On paper, The Great Wall just sounds so, so silly. On screen, it seems about the same. There are plenty of white-washing problems to complain about with this film. That’s reason enough to be hesitant about this thing. But the trailers – and now the reviews – aren’t doing it any favors either. It’s a creature feature, though, and there is always an audience for monsters blowing stuff up on screen. So if you can tune out the controversy, the silliness, and the reviews, you might just dig The Great Wall.

The Verdict: Look, no one is more disappointed about this than me but The Great Wall looks like a miss. The only monster here, it seems, is the script. Avoid it unless you’re hard up for entertainment this weekend.

On the Tube

Big Little Lies (HBO. Sunday, 9pm)

Whoa, the cast for Big Little Lies is dynamite. Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Adam Scott, Shailene Woodley, and Alexander Skarsgard. Wowza. This limited series is based on the best-selling Liane Moriarty novel about beautiful people and the horrible things they do. I’ve resisted the plot because I want to be surprised. If you haven’t read the book, you should do the same.

The Verdict: HBO has earned your blind faith. This cast has as well. Set your DVR because this show deserves your attention for at least one episode.

The Good Fight (CBS. Sunday, 8pm)

CBS tries its hand at the streaming game with The Good Fight. A spin-off of The Good WifeFight will premiere its pilot this Sunday but every episode after that will only be available on CBS All Access, the network’s streaming service (which will also air the new Star Trek: Discovery when it premieres). It’s an interesting approach and sets Fight up for success. You can tell CBS really wants All Access to be a hit if they’re gifting it with such a sure thing. The Good Fight would have been a huge smash on network TV. We’ll see how it does online.

The Verdict: It’ll be interesting to see the ratings for The Good Fight considering it’s the only episode that’ll air on TV. If you’re a fan of The Good Wife, I suggest you tune in – and get an All Access account ASAP.

For the Gamers

For Honor (PlayStation 4/Xbox One/PC. Available now)

Are you feeling like you want to bash some enemies’ heads in? Well, we have just the game for you. Ubisoft’s For Honor is an action melee fighting game that finds you in the middle of intimate and epic battles, laying waste to online enemies in a battle system that’s much more than typical button mashing. Instead of just running in blind, For Honor promises that you’ll need to master your skills and learn how to fight and defend. This game is unique in a sea of multiplayer games that value action over strategy. Plus you can play as a samurai so, come on, you know you want to play!

The Verdict: Are you looking for something new? Tired of mindless multiplayer games? Then For Honor might be for you, if you’re willing to learn.

Sniper Elite 4 (PlayStation 4/PC. Available now)

This one is for the stealth game fans. Sniper Elite 4 continues the tradition of the series, forcing players to sneak around and find the best ways to take headshots. This isn’t a game about running in guns blazing, it’s about being methodical, slow and deliberate. Therefore, it’s probably frustrating beyond belief for a gamer like me. However, this series has garnered many fans and Elite 4 is winning rave reviews.

The Verdict: If you’re into taking your time and being strategic, Sniper Elite 4 will prove to be a huge time-suck in the best way.

Have a great weekend, folks! See you next time!

Brandon Marcus
A pop culture lover from birth, Brandon has previously written for VeryAware.com, NerdBastards.com, Trouble.city and CHUD.com. He has complained extensively about inconsequential things on all those sites. Brandon resides in the Pacific Northwest but his heart belongs to Gotham City.