The dog days of summer are finally upon us, with everyone either heading out of town or enjoying the peace and quiet those who’ve left may have bestowed on your streets. If you’re thinking of venturing out to the local multiplex this 4th of July holiday weekend there’s lots of good stuff to see, and of course some horrendous offerings to avoid. While I didn’t finagle the time to review everything, I have seen all of the latest offerings and just thought people should know what they should see and what they should stay far far away from.
While we all know the teenage girls are heavily flocking to watch a selfish teenage child torment herself over whether she’s into bestiality or wanting to roll around in the dirt as a necrophiliac, we all know there’s no stopping the phenomenon that is the Twilight Saga. With the latest entry, Eclipse, it’s basically the same movie as before. Bella pines for two boys who have a tendency to not wear basic clothing while the silliest of flashbacks give unnecessary backstory to characters who don’t deserve it while an army of noob vampires are being wrangled together for Victoria to get her revenge. Skip it, you’ve seen this movie twice already with the first two installments.
Another one to avoid, which like Eclipse is making far too much undeserved money, is Adam Sandler’s declaration of eternal arrested development, Grown Ups. If you think watching other people’s home movies is entertaining, then you’d be better off sitting at home flipping through old family photo albums instead of watching five long-past-their-prime supposed comics humiliate themselves and everyone in their immediate vicinity while making as many insensitive and racist “jokes” as possible.
A few surprises were brought to the fold over the last few weeks. With the update of the '80s The A-Team, adults finally get an over-the-top action film kicked up a few notches with a spry cast, a hilarious script, and the surest direction seen from Joe Carnahan in years. While it hasn’t caught on to become the blockbuster it deserves to be, neither is the other adult friendly action/comedy, Knight and Day. While Tom Cruise has been continually bashed since he stomped on Oprah’s couch, I’ve never let an actor’s personal life get in the way of enjoying them cinematically. James Mangold directs sophomore writer Patrick O’Neill’s hilarious script for a film that never tries to be more than a nice mixture of North by Northwest and Cruise’s own Mission: Impossible films. Meanwhile, Cruise and Cameron Diaz have never been so enjoyable. These are the two deserving crowd pleasers that most have missed out on but with a few days off, now’s your chance to catch up on something more than tween eye candy or overgrown adolescence gone wild.
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Article comments
1 - Cinenerd
I also must have hated this one so much I totally forgot to include it, but everyone also needs to make sure they avoid "The Last Airbender" like the plague!
2 - John Lake
Eclipse had some major flaws. The make up was a distraction, and Edward in one scene was wearing such a terrible shirt that it destroyed the character for me.
Jacob running around in no shirt at all would have been acceptable, but when the whole group turned up shirtless.. not so much.
I am still enthralled by the way the men courted Bella; at some points it seemed it could go either way. Bella debates over whether she should be who she is, or who she should be. Really, the scene in the sleeping bag was intense.
Now that I have had time to think, I really liked the movie as a whole.
3 - Simon
The Karate Kid wasn't as bad as I expected. The kid has some talent.
Enjoyed Toy Story 3 with the family as well!