Movies hitting South African cinemas today
Five new movies open in South Africa today, just in time for the long weekend.
Of course, if you haven't seen it yet, Inception (87% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) should be your #1 viewing priority, but in terms of the new releases, for starters there's Bollywood romantic comedy Aisha about a young woman playing matchmaker in upper-class Delhi; and Mao's Last Dancer (80% Fresh) based on the true story and bestselling autobiography of Chinese ballet dancer Li Cunxin, who struggled against repressive Communist authorities at the same time he was rising to stardom in America.
Parents looking for harmless fare for their kids, meanwhile, can take their little ones to goofy James Bond-esque sequel Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (15% Fresh). James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Bette Midler, Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Applegate and Roger Moore all provide voices for this extensively CGI-ed tale of secret agent dogs, cats and pigeons uniting to defeat a common feline foe. Cats & Dogs 2 is screening in conventional format, and 3D at selected cinemas.
In terms of my personal movie picks for the weekend, first up is the "bromance" comedy Grown Ups. The film is something of a early 90's Saturday Night Live reunion, with Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider and Kevin James starring in this tale of five high school friends who reunite 30 years later for the funeral of their old basketball coach. Capitalising on the fact that they're together once more, the men and their families (including wives Salma Hayek and Maria Bello) decide to spend the 4th of July weekend together at a lake house. During that time, the former friends assess their lives and friendships, and quickly come to realise that growing older doesn't necessarily mean becoming more emotionally mature.
Grown Ups is a pitiful 10% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The film looks harmless enough in the trailer though, even if the two most common words used by critics to describe it are "lazy" and "sloppy." If reviewers are to be believed, the cast is likeable enough (and are clearly having fun onscreen) but the movie is more schmaltzy than funny, and it's over-reliant on puerile poop and pee jokes. That's kind of accepted with an Adam Sandler film though, so if you're a fan of the funnyman, you probably won't be disappointed by Grown Ups.
Of course, Grown Ups isn't the top movie draw of the weekend... at least if you're a lover of '80s action and sci-fi movies. That honour belongs to Predators. Ignoring Predator 2 and the terrible Alien vs. Predator movies, Predators is intended to be a spiritual sequel to the 1987 original Predator in much the same way Aliens followed Alien - with the human heroes battling multiple extra-terrestrials instead of just one foe.
The basic plot of Predators sees a disparate group of mercenaries, soldiers and killers dumped in a jungle with no knowledge of how they got there. It soon becomes apparent they have been brought to an alien planet to be hunted by ferocious, mandibled beings known as Predators. Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace and Alice Braga star. You can watch the trailer for Predators and read my initial thoughts on the film here, but it's worth mentioning again that the film's producer Robert (Desperado, Sin City) Rodriguez has promised a return to the high octane, R-rated carnage of the Arnie original. And, judging by the reviews, the filmmakers have succeeded.
Predators is a surprisingly healthy 64% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. According to critics it's easily on a par with Predator, returning to the oldschool action movie formula, where brutal combat and physicality is more important than computer generated effects. Detractors of the film, however, have called it contrived, derivative and crippled by a weak ending. Regardless, I've been looking forward to Predators for a while now, so watching it is definitely on my list of things to do this weekend.
Speaking of which, it's a long weekend in South Africa, with Monday a public holiday - National Women's Day. As a result, I'll be taking the day off from blogging. Daily updates will return as usual bright and early on Tuesday morning. Have a great weekend, y'all!
Of course, if you haven't seen it yet, Inception (87% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) should be your #1 viewing priority, but in terms of the new releases, for starters there's Bollywood romantic comedy Aisha about a young woman playing matchmaker in upper-class Delhi; and Mao's Last Dancer (80% Fresh) based on the true story and bestselling autobiography of Chinese ballet dancer Li Cunxin, who struggled against repressive Communist authorities at the same time he was rising to stardom in America.
Parents looking for harmless fare for their kids, meanwhile, can take their little ones to goofy James Bond-esque sequel Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (15% Fresh). James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Bette Midler, Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Applegate and Roger Moore all provide voices for this extensively CGI-ed tale of secret agent dogs, cats and pigeons uniting to defeat a common feline foe. Cats & Dogs 2 is screening in conventional format, and 3D at selected cinemas.
In terms of my personal movie picks for the weekend, first up is the "bromance" comedy Grown Ups. The film is something of a early 90's Saturday Night Live reunion, with Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider and Kevin James starring in this tale of five high school friends who reunite 30 years later for the funeral of their old basketball coach. Capitalising on the fact that they're together once more, the men and their families (including wives Salma Hayek and Maria Bello) decide to spend the 4th of July weekend together at a lake house. During that time, the former friends assess their lives and friendships, and quickly come to realise that growing older doesn't necessarily mean becoming more emotionally mature.
Grown Ups is a pitiful 10% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The film looks harmless enough in the trailer though, even if the two most common words used by critics to describe it are "lazy" and "sloppy." If reviewers are to be believed, the cast is likeable enough (and are clearly having fun onscreen) but the movie is more schmaltzy than funny, and it's over-reliant on puerile poop and pee jokes. That's kind of accepted with an Adam Sandler film though, so if you're a fan of the funnyman, you probably won't be disappointed by Grown Ups.
Of course, Grown Ups isn't the top movie draw of the weekend... at least if you're a lover of '80s action and sci-fi movies. That honour belongs to Predators. Ignoring Predator 2 and the terrible Alien vs. Predator movies, Predators is intended to be a spiritual sequel to the 1987 original Predator in much the same way Aliens followed Alien - with the human heroes battling multiple extra-terrestrials instead of just one foe.
The basic plot of Predators sees a disparate group of mercenaries, soldiers and killers dumped in a jungle with no knowledge of how they got there. It soon becomes apparent they have been brought to an alien planet to be hunted by ferocious, mandibled beings known as Predators. Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace and Alice Braga star. You can watch the trailer for Predators and read my initial thoughts on the film here, but it's worth mentioning again that the film's producer Robert (Desperado, Sin City) Rodriguez has promised a return to the high octane, R-rated carnage of the Arnie original. And, judging by the reviews, the filmmakers have succeeded.
Predators is a surprisingly healthy 64% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. According to critics it's easily on a par with Predator, returning to the oldschool action movie formula, where brutal combat and physicality is more important than computer generated effects. Detractors of the film, however, have called it contrived, derivative and crippled by a weak ending. Regardless, I've been looking forward to Predators for a while now, so watching it is definitely on my list of things to do this weekend.
Speaking of which, it's a long weekend in South Africa, with Monday a public holiday - National Women's Day. As a result, I'll be taking the day off from blogging. Daily updates will return as usual bright and early on Tuesday morning. Have a great weekend, y'all!
Comments
MJenks, that's not a bad vow to make at all. Pity South African audiences also won't make it - Grown Ups was the #1 film at the local box office this weekend:P