Movies out today: Bringing the extraterrestrial hoedown
Five new movies hit South African cinemas today but I'm pretty sure only one will be of interest to my regular readers.
Out of interest, though, those other four releases include:
That then leaves Cowboys and Aliens as this week's geeky pick of the week. Loosely based on the little known graphic novel of the same name, Cowboys and Aliens - as its title suggests - mashes Western and Sci-fi genres together in this tale of feuding New Mexico settlers who have to band together to defeat technologically advanced aliens. Daniel Craig is an amnesiac outlaw, Harrison Ford is an arrogant cattleman and Olivia Wilde is a mysterious woman with knowledge of the invaders. Many other recognisable faces pop up in the cast, while Iron Man's Jon Favreau is the man behind the camera, guided by the likes of Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg.
Cowboys and Aliens has a very mixed Rotten Tomatoes rating of 46% Fresh. Apparently there's no question that the film is flawed, although successes and failings vary from critic to critic. Some love the film's completely straight-faced approach to its subject matter; others insist the seriousness has sucked all fun from the project. Performances have been praised but the plot criticised as incoherent and tonally unbalanced - seeing as it's been stitched together by 6 different credited writers. And according to some, the Western portions of the film are more lovingly made and enjoyable than the extraterrestrial bits... although still others insist the entire film is too undeveloped.
So, yup, it looks like Cowboys and Aliens is really dividing viewers. This is likely one film where its better to ignore all the reviews and just form your own opinion. For the record, you can watch the trailer and read my initial thoughts on the film here.
Out of interest, though, those other four releases include:
- Selena Gomez's mistaken identity comedy Monte Carlo, for the tweens (38% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes)
- 3D animated Finding Nemo rip-off Sammy's Adventures: The Secret Passage for the kiddies (40% Fresh)
- Acclaimed South African revenge tale Retribution, for adult fans of serious film festival fare
- And the similarly "heavy" Incendies, a multi-award winning drama about Canadian twins who uncover family secrets in Lebanon (92% Fresh).
That then leaves Cowboys and Aliens as this week's geeky pick of the week. Loosely based on the little known graphic novel of the same name, Cowboys and Aliens - as its title suggests - mashes Western and Sci-fi genres together in this tale of feuding New Mexico settlers who have to band together to defeat technologically advanced aliens. Daniel Craig is an amnesiac outlaw, Harrison Ford is an arrogant cattleman and Olivia Wilde is a mysterious woman with knowledge of the invaders. Many other recognisable faces pop up in the cast, while Iron Man's Jon Favreau is the man behind the camera, guided by the likes of Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg.
Cowboys and Aliens has a very mixed Rotten Tomatoes rating of 46% Fresh. Apparently there's no question that the film is flawed, although successes and failings vary from critic to critic. Some love the film's completely straight-faced approach to its subject matter; others insist the seriousness has sucked all fun from the project. Performances have been praised but the plot criticised as incoherent and tonally unbalanced - seeing as it's been stitched together by 6 different credited writers. And according to some, the Western portions of the film are more lovingly made and enjoyable than the extraterrestrial bits... although still others insist the entire film is too undeveloped.
So, yup, it looks like Cowboys and Aliens is really dividing viewers. This is likely one film where its better to ignore all the reviews and just form your own opinion. For the record, you can watch the trailer and read my initial thoughts on the film here.
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