Hollywood wants to appeal to the youngsters this weekend. After a slew of recent Young Adult adaptations flopped (including ‘Beautiful Creatures’ and ‘The Mortal Instruments’), the studio behind the puzzlingly successful ‘Twilight’ franchise is braving the choppy waters again. At the same time, Disney is back at it with Jim Henson’s most recognizable characters. In essence, this weekend offers a movie for the young adults and another that parents can take their kids to.
The widest of the weekend’s releases is Summit Entertainment’s ‘Divergent‘. Based on the wildly popular book series by Veronica Roth, the first adaptation in the cinematic series sets up a utopia where civilized mankind lives in a fenced-off Chicago and are split into separate factions that balance and harmonize society. Of course, all utopias quickly turn into dystopias. Shailene Woodley leads the cast as a girl who joins a new faction and bites off more than most people think she can chew. Just like ‘The Matrix’, the first two-thirds of the movie set up the world and scenario, and follow the character through training, while the final third shoe-horns in a predictable plot. And like the first ‘Hunger Games’ movie, ‘Divergent’ may not be the strongest start to the series. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not capable of becoming much more (like ‘Catching Fire’ did). Summit is already fast-tracking the sequels, whether audiences flock to see this one or not.
Although Jason Segel has not returned for ‘Muppets Most Wanted‘ (neither in front of nor behind the camera), co-writer Nicholas Stoller and music supervisor Bret McKenzie have. In this self-aware “seventh sequel to the original movie,” Kermit’s is mistaken for a villainous Eastern European frog named Constantine. While Kermit rots in a Russian prison, his evil doppelganger assumes his identity and leads the rest of the Muppets on an around-the-globe heist disguised as a world tour. Tina Fey, Ty Burrell and Ricky Gervais play the main human characters while countless other celebrities show up for cameos.
Lars von Trier has hyped his new graphic sex drama for over a year now. Those living near one of the 25 screens debuting it can see ‘Nymphomaniac: Volume I‘ this weekend. While it’s currently unrated, it would certainly receive an NC-17 if submitted to the MPAA.
For a sick and twisted indie flick, I’m interested in ‘Cheap Thrills‘. Pat Healy and Ethan Embry star as two friends out for a drink when a filthy rich couple offers them cash in exchange for completing dares. The challenges start off innocent and simple enough, as do the cash incentives, but as the night progresses the unbelievable tasks and rewards are raised higher and higher. David Koechner and Sara Paxton play the wealthy couple.
Meanwhile, Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ will also expand to more than 300 screens.
Jim Brundige
nymphomaniac was utter garbage. it was boring and just lame having unsimulated sex for no real reason at all. von trier lost his mind somewhere in the past 20 years.
there was a moment in part 2 where it looked like it was going to synch with antichrist and would have been epic, but no that moment was squandered and all the buildup to the scene went overlooked and unused. this movie makes the depressing misogynistic breaking the waves feel entertaining. and while watching nympho all i could think about was that hed made this film before with breaking the waves.
and the ending to part 2 was just blah. support the arts, but dont waste your time on this film. think breaking the waves meets trainspotting just instead of heroin her drug is cock
Jim Brundige
mix in a little forrest gump too.
William Henley
What, no love for God’s Not Dead, which also debuted this weekend?
I don’t know if I would describe the Chicago seen in Divergant as a Utopia. I mean, the establishing shot shows the Great Lakes dryed up (at least, that is what I am assuming it is), a fortified city, crumbling buildings, and a less-than-ideal society.
Apparently I missed the memo that this was a teenage-girl movie. I was one of like three guys in the theater, and hundreds of girls between the ages of 10 and 16. The girl sitting next to me kept jumping and screaming every time they pulled out a needle, the girls behind me were squealing and moaning every time a guy took his shirt off, or a kissing scene happened, and half the audience was cheering and clapping at highly predictable moments in the movie. Seriously, was this like porn for teen girls? I highly enjoyed the movie, but I seriously don’t know what these girls were getting so excited about.
I will probably catch Muppets in a couple of weeks.
Shannon Nutt
It looks like the new Muppet movie will be lucky to make back its $50 million price tag. This might be the last time we see the Muppets on the big screen for a while – unless Disney just uses them for shorts before main films.
William Henley
It looks like studios just need to pay a bit more attention to when they release their movies, and what its being released against.