Movies out today: Upping the star wattage
After last weekend's dud set of movie releases, today's trio of new films inject some much needed star power back into proceedings
Men in Black 3:
Screening in 2D and converted 3D is this rather unexpected sci-fi comedy sequel. It's been 15 years since the world first met gadget-packing government agents K (Tommy Lee Jones ) and J (Will Smith), the Earth's first line of defense against extra-terrestrial troublemakers. With Jemaine Clement's villain up to no good, J time-travels back to the 1960s to stop an assassination attempt on a much younger K (Josh Brolin). Barry Sonnenfeld directs again.
Men in Black 3 is currently sitting with an aggregated Rotten Tomatoes review score of 63%. Apparently it's a pretty perfunctory popcorn flick that looks cool, moves quickly and avoids bloat. Unsurprisingly, Brolin and Clement are the big scene stealers. In summary: MIB3 is an improvement on 2 but is still nowhere as good as the original comic book adaptation.
The Lucky One:
Those in the market for a mushy date night movie probably want to consider this latest Nicholas (The Notebook) Sparks novel adaptation. Zac Efron is a US marine, who insists he survived an incident-filled tour of Iraq because of a photo he finds of a smiling woman (Taylor Schilling). Back in the US, and wracked with survivor's guilt, he tracks down this lonely single mother and their lives intertwine. Gee, I can't imagine how things are going to turn out...
The Lucky One is 20% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. If you love Sparks's escapist romances, you'll probably enjoy this one. However, if you need realism in your entertainment diet, beware! The Lucky One is evidently wall-to-wall coincidences, cliches and artificiality, all smothered in syrup.
The Rum Diary:
Strange how this comedy drama has slipped under the radar considering its impressive cast: Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Giovanni Ribisi and Richard Jenkins. Based on the Hunter S Thompson novel, Depp plays a journalist who escapes 1950s New York for exotic Puerto Rico. There he drinks wildly, has all sorts of encounters with the seedy, rich and corrupt, and faces a major ethical crisis.
The Rum Diary divided critics when it was released in the US 6 months ago. Johnny Depp is fantastic as a boozy hack, and the supporting cast are also great, but the entire project apparently just shambles along without any real dramatic drive. Enjoyable but pointless. 50% Fresh.
Men in Black 3:
Screening in 2D and converted 3D is this rather unexpected sci-fi comedy sequel. It's been 15 years since the world first met gadget-packing government agents K (Tommy Lee Jones ) and J (Will Smith), the Earth's first line of defense against extra-terrestrial troublemakers. With Jemaine Clement's villain up to no good, J time-travels back to the 1960s to stop an assassination attempt on a much younger K (Josh Brolin). Barry Sonnenfeld directs again.
Men in Black 3 is currently sitting with an aggregated Rotten Tomatoes review score of 63%. Apparently it's a pretty perfunctory popcorn flick that looks cool, moves quickly and avoids bloat. Unsurprisingly, Brolin and Clement are the big scene stealers. In summary: MIB3 is an improvement on 2 but is still nowhere as good as the original comic book adaptation.
The Lucky One:
Those in the market for a mushy date night movie probably want to consider this latest Nicholas (The Notebook) Sparks novel adaptation. Zac Efron is a US marine, who insists he survived an incident-filled tour of Iraq because of a photo he finds of a smiling woman (Taylor Schilling). Back in the US, and wracked with survivor's guilt, he tracks down this lonely single mother and their lives intertwine. Gee, I can't imagine how things are going to turn out...
The Lucky One is 20% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. If you love Sparks's escapist romances, you'll probably enjoy this one. However, if you need realism in your entertainment diet, beware! The Lucky One is evidently wall-to-wall coincidences, cliches and artificiality, all smothered in syrup.
The Rum Diary:
Strange how this comedy drama has slipped under the radar considering its impressive cast: Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Giovanni Ribisi and Richard Jenkins. Based on the Hunter S Thompson novel, Depp plays a journalist who escapes 1950s New York for exotic Puerto Rico. There he drinks wildly, has all sorts of encounters with the seedy, rich and corrupt, and faces a major ethical crisis.
The Rum Diary divided critics when it was released in the US 6 months ago. Johnny Depp is fantastic as a boozy hack, and the supporting cast are also great, but the entire project apparently just shambles along without any real dramatic drive. Enjoyable but pointless. 50% Fresh.
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