Weekly Roundup - Opening 2/6

We've got a wide range of movies coming out this week, so that's good. With five movies opening today, lets hope one is good. We've got Fanboys that seems to be good for, well, fanboys. There's Coraline, which has stretched the realm of animation in a new way. And there's The Pink Panther 2 which does no deserve to be mentioned. The action-packed Push should be good for drunk teenaged boys. And finally, He's Just Not That Into You has a lot of big stars, but doesn't offer much bang for its buck.

Weekend Suggestion:

The pick of the week is Coraline. Not only does offer a unique, creative, and entertaining form of animation, it has also recieved the best reviews since the Oscar contenders more than a month ago. See it.

He's Just Not That Into You

Movie Info

Directed by: Ken Kwapis (About A Boy, The Office (TV))
Written by: Book: Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo, Screenplay: Abby Kohn (Never Been Kissed) & Marc Silverstein (Never Been Kissed)
Starring: Jennifer Aniston (Marley & Me, Friends (TV)), Ben Afflect (Good Will Hunting, Pearl Harbor), Drew Barrymore (E.T., Fever Pitch)
Genre: Romantic Comedy
MPAA Rating: PG-13 - for sexual content and brief strong language
Runtime: 129 minutes

Reviews

RottenTomatoes Score: 44% Fresh
MetaCritic Score: 48/100
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
My Response: While this one looks to try to be an American version of Love Actually, it falls way short. It may be the best romantic comedy to come out in a while, but that's not saying much.

Trailer



Official Website

Push

Movie Info

Directed by: Paul McGuigan (The Reckoning, Lucky Number Slevin)
Written by: Screenplay: David Bourla (Nostradamus)
Starring: Camilla Belle (When a Stranger Calls, 10,000 BC), Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire, War of the Worlds), Chris Evans (The Fantastic Four, Sunshine)
Genre: Action
MPAA Rating: PG-13 - for intense sequences of violence and action, brief strong language, smoking and a scene of teen drinking
Runtime: 111 minutes

Reviews

RottenTomatoes Score: 26% Fresh
MetaCritic Score: 39/100
IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
My Response: This one reminds be of last year's Jumper: Tons of CGI action...bad plot. ...Explosion!...bad characters...action-packed!...dumb. Skip it.

Trailer


Official Website

The Pink Panther 2

Movie Info

Directed by: Harald Zwart (One Night at McCool's, Agent Cody Banks)
Written by: Scott Neustadter (debut), Michael H. Wever (debut), & Steve Martin (The Pink Panther)
Starring: Steve Martin (The Jerk, Roxanne), Jean Reno (Leon, The Da Vinci Code), Emily Mortimer (Notting Hill, Match Point)
Genre: Comedy/Family
MPAA Rating: PG - for some suggestive humor, brief mild language and action
Runtime: 92 minutes

Reviews

RottenTomatoes Score: 14% Fresh
MetaCritic Score: 37/100
IMDB Rating: 4.6/10
My Response: What the hell happened to Steve Martin? He used to be great, and now look at him. WTF Steve? WTF. Skip this one just like everyone skipped the first Pink Panther remake.

Trailer



Official Website

Coraline

Movie Info

Directed by: Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and Giant Peach)
Written by: Book: Neil Gaiman (Stardust, MirrorMask), Screenplay: Henry Selick (writing debut)
Starring: Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire, War of the Worlds), Teri Hatcher (Tomorrow Never Dies, Desperate Housewives (TV)), John Hodgmen (Baby Mama)
Genre: Animated/Family
MPAA Rating: PG - for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor
Runtime: 101 minutes

Reviews

RottenTomatoes Score: 88% Fresh
MetaCritic Score: 80/100
IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
My Response: Everyone is saying that Coraline is Henry Selick's chance to shine. He's worked on other similar projects, but other people usually get the credit (mainly Tim Burton). Coraline looks to be very entertaining, and Selick definitely has an established, imaginative, and very unique style that many people love. See it.

Trailer



Official Website

Fanboys

Movie Info

Directed by: Kyle Newman (The Hollow)
Written by: Ernest Cline (writing debut), Adam Goldberg (The Muppets' Wizard of Oz), & Dan Pulick (writing debut)
Starring: Dan Fogler (Balls of Fury, Good Luck Chuck), Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Million Dollar Baby), Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Veronica Mars (TV))
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: PG-13 - for pervasive crude and sexual material, language and drug content
Runtime: 90 minutes

Reviews

RottenTomatoes Score: 28% Fresh
MetaCritic Score: 43/100
IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
My Response: Fanboys was originally supposed to be released in 2007, but due to many re-shoots and setbacks (including a very long back and forth with Miramax studio cheif Harvey Weinstein (who wanted to change much of the movie to his liking) that was finally stopped with the help of an online movement called "Stop Darth Weinstein" that reportedly sent Miramax over 300,000 emails) the movie was delayed until now.

If you don't know what a fanboy is, then this is probably not the best movie for you. But George Lucas gave it his official "stamp of approval", so if you are a fanboy, you cannot miss it.

Trailer



Official Website

Weekly Roundup - Opening 1/30

Just like last week, three movies are opening. But unlike last week, one of them might be worth watching. It's not New in Town, the unofficial remake of Sweet Home Alabama. It's not The Uninvited, the unofficial remake of every Japanese horror film remake. Seriously, where's the originality people??

Weekend Suggestion:

Taken is the pick of the week. While it may not hold up to other action thrillers like the Bourne trilogy or the new James Bond movies, it still offers some exciting action and some good Liam Neeson butt kicking.