By Sarah Sluis
Even with four new wide releases hitting theatres this weekend, the biggest piece of the pie and number one spot is expected to go to Shrek Forever After. If it drops 40% again, as it did last week, it will still rack up $25 million, which could be a difficult number to beat.
Get Him to the Greek (2,696 theatres) is one of two comedies opening this weekend. Jonah Hill plays a record company intern tasked with bringing a boozing, fallen rocker (Russell Brand) from the U.K. to the Greek Theatre in L.A. Critic Ethan Alter praised the "marriage of performance styles," which "pits Brand's manic energy against the deadpan humor of Jonah Hill." I saw it earlier this week, and while it has some laugh-out-loud moments, it's very uneven. The director, Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), manages to shock and brings something new to the mass-comedy table, and I particularly enjoy his male characters, who are more sensitive "girl's guys" without being the butt of the jokes (Hill is very excited to watch "Gossip Girl" with his girlfriend to unwind). Here's hoping he can make a comedy that's strong the whole way through.
It didn't screen for critics, which is usually a bad sign. Killers (2,859 theatres) is an action comedy in the
style of Mr. & Mrs. Smith starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. The king of Twitter (Kutcher) paired with a star known for being the difficult one on the set of "Grey's Anatomy?" I'm giving the star power of these A-listers a B+. Killers is PG-13, while Get Him to the Greek is R, so underage audiences looking for a comedy may choose Killers, even with its older stars.
Family audiences who have already caught Shrek Forever After may choose Marmaduke (3,213 theatres). Critic Alter lamented that the movie
"follows the predictable beats of most disposable kiddie comedies," and includes "not just one but two references to the immortal Baha Men track 'Who Let the Dogs Out?'" Arf. Owen Wilson voices Marmaduke, his second dog-themed role after Marley & Me, but his voice adds little to the movie, according to Alter.
A quiet little sci-fi/horror movie that's been getting better reviews than would be expected (69% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), Splice (2,450 theatres) stars Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as
two geneticists that create something rather sinister. Over at the New York Times, Manohla Dargis called it a "pleasurably shivery, sometimes delightfully icky horror movie. Our critic, Maitland McDonagh, highlighted the pacing problems, and lamented that there's "an awful lot of wheel-spinning between the set-up and the admirably restrained climax."
On Monday, I'll be back to check in on the top ten, which should receive quite a shakeup this weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment