Divergent - C+Not bad, not great. Biggest issues were a plot derivative of 1984, The Giver, and Hunger Games, and a romance that's hindered by a couple extremely cheesy scenes. Woodley held her own and the cast delivered what was needed, nothing more.Small audience on a Sunday night, so besides giggles from a group of teenagers, not much to report.
They're not dead, they're just R-rated now and they try to target both sexes instead of just women. The bad ones are dead though. Audiences have smartened up in that regard. Although the younglings still turn out for those dreadful Sparks dramas on opening weekend.
Silver Linings Playbook, anyone? Yes, that was basically a rom-com. Crazy, Stupid, Love did pretty well too.
When you really think about it, it's kinda scary that so many people were/are welcoming to what are so far mere remakes of the original Spider-man movies.
The Descent is one of the best horror movies I've seen, but Marshall's output since has been disappointing. After that film I thought we were watching a new horror maestro take shape.
1. X-men: Days of Future Past (although my anticipation is slightly dwindling the longer we go without a look or a hint at any epic action sequences i.e. where's the Sentinel action, dammit?)
2. Interstellar
3. Dawn of the Apes
4. Mockingjay Part 1
5. Inherent Vice
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
7. 22 Jump Street
8. Dumb and Dumber To
9. Godzilla
10. Noah
The bigger question is: what the hell is going on with Will Smith? Guy was on a roll critically and financially until the mediocre but not disreputable Seven Pounds, took four years off only to choose a mostly unnecessary Men in Black threequel and a bad-as-usual M. Night film as his comeback projects. Turns down Django Unchained, turns down ID42, but says yes to two cameos, one inspired and one not so much. He doesn't seem interested in pursuing quality roles, if any.
MIB3 was a decent hit, but still...just all-around weird decision-making.
Edit: A possible post-Hurricane Katrina film that he's attached to could turn things around.
In Bruges
Seven Psychopaths
Horrible Bosses
Crazy Heart
Phone Booth
Saving Mr. Banks
That's the entire list of good things he's done. Everything else has been bad or mediocre. There's also a couple of indies that are supposedly decent but that I've never seen.
Farrell keeps getting lead roles because he's a pretty good actor. The problem is that he must have a BAD agent or maybe bad taste, because unless he's working with Martin McDonough or he's in a supporting role his films are always bad.
Is it just me or do bad movies seem to do exceptionally well in January and February more so than any other month? Sure, bad blockbusters do well over the summer due to excessively aggressive marketing campaigns, fancy effects, etc., but I'd argue that a movie like Ride Along or even Monuments Men wouldn't be doing as well as they are were they released another time of the year, especially the former which is incredibly unfunny for such a big hit.
Ride Along is another Paul Blart.
Honestly I feel bad for the kid. I think people ought to empathize more with what these kids in Hollywood deal with. It's no coincidence that child actors always end up acting out like this.