Movies opening today: A Machete to Alpha and Omega
In terms of new movies opening in South Africa today, I'm pretty sure my regular blog readers won't be catching the new Zac Efron "time to let go" drama Charlie St. Cloud (28% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), which is based on the bestselling novel by Ben Sherwood.
I also actually don't know if new animated family film Alpha and Omega (15% Fresh) - which is screening in 3D and conventional format- will have much appeal either. I mean I'm an animation lover and I wasn't impressed at all by the trailer for this tale of a wolf underdog (uh, kinda literally) who is forced into a cross country adventure with the alpha female he adores. By all accounts, Alpha and Omega is bland all around, and won't please anyone but the youngest, most undemanding moviegoers.
The most high profile release of the week then is Machete, a deliberately overblown action movie that, interestingly enough, grew out of the exceptionally well-received fake trailer attached to writer-director Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror - itself the first part of the 2007 movie double that makes up Grindhouse. Anyway, Rodriquez is all about sublimely ridiculous B-grade action, and in Machete he's assembled a who's who of B-grade stardom.
Danny Trejo stars as the title character - a Mexican ex-Federale who embarks on a quest for revenge after being betrayed by his former employers. Trejo is joined by Steven Seagal, Don Johnson, Jeff Fahey, Michelle Rodriguez and Cheech Marin. And even Jessica Alba , Lindsay Lohan and Robert De Niro are along for the ride.
That's a very impressive cast for a piece of intentional, exploitative junk - and frankly it's the cast that has got me most excited for Machete. For the record, Machete is 74% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, where it has been called a highly enjoyable cartoon of an action movie. You really have to be in the right mood to appreciate the film though. If you hated Planet Terror, or Rodriquez's earlier Desperado, then you will hate Machete, because it's more of the same stiff-jawed silliness - where EVERYTHING is taken to extremes.
Finally in terms of notable movies opening this weekend, there's the little known satire The Joneses. I thought the film was worth mentioning though because of its solid cast and potentially fascinating premise. Demi Moore and David Duchovny star in this tale of a picture perfect upper-middle class family who are actually anything but perfect. In fact, they're completely fake - actors recruited by a marketing company to push the sale of luxury goods in the image-conscious suburbs in an entirely new, highly insidious way.
The Joneses has a 62% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Apparently the film is smart, interesting and breezy, but just doesn't quite have the courage to take its stabs at vapid consumer culture to the cynical extreme. What starts out well ends up disappointingly "safe" and melodramatic. Still, if you want to watch a movie this weekend that requires a little brain power and/or some critical thought - and haven't yet seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - The Joneses is likely to be the best pick of the new bunch for you.
I also actually don't know if new animated family film Alpha and Omega (15% Fresh) - which is screening in 3D and conventional format- will have much appeal either. I mean I'm an animation lover and I wasn't impressed at all by the trailer for this tale of a wolf underdog (uh, kinda literally) who is forced into a cross country adventure with the alpha female he adores. By all accounts, Alpha and Omega is bland all around, and won't please anyone but the youngest, most undemanding moviegoers.
The most high profile release of the week then is Machete, a deliberately overblown action movie that, interestingly enough, grew out of the exceptionally well-received fake trailer attached to writer-director Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror - itself the first part of the 2007 movie double that makes up Grindhouse. Anyway, Rodriquez is all about sublimely ridiculous B-grade action, and in Machete he's assembled a who's who of B-grade stardom.
Danny Trejo stars as the title character - a Mexican ex-Federale who embarks on a quest for revenge after being betrayed by his former employers. Trejo is joined by Steven Seagal, Don Johnson, Jeff Fahey, Michelle Rodriguez and Cheech Marin. And even Jessica Alba , Lindsay Lohan and Robert De Niro are along for the ride.
That's a very impressive cast for a piece of intentional, exploitative junk - and frankly it's the cast that has got me most excited for Machete. For the record, Machete is 74% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, where it has been called a highly enjoyable cartoon of an action movie. You really have to be in the right mood to appreciate the film though. If you hated Planet Terror, or Rodriquez's earlier Desperado, then you will hate Machete, because it's more of the same stiff-jawed silliness - where EVERYTHING is taken to extremes.
Finally in terms of notable movies opening this weekend, there's the little known satire The Joneses. I thought the film was worth mentioning though because of its solid cast and potentially fascinating premise. Demi Moore and David Duchovny star in this tale of a picture perfect upper-middle class family who are actually anything but perfect. In fact, they're completely fake - actors recruited by a marketing company to push the sale of luxury goods in the image-conscious suburbs in an entirely new, highly insidious way.
The Joneses has a 62% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Apparently the film is smart, interesting and breezy, but just doesn't quite have the courage to take its stabs at vapid consumer culture to the cynical extreme. What starts out well ends up disappointingly "safe" and melodramatic. Still, if you want to watch a movie this weekend that requires a little brain power and/or some critical thought - and haven't yet seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - The Joneses is likely to be the best pick of the new bunch for you.
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