This week: Paul Thomas Anderson and Chris Rock return to form; Christian Bale and Ridley Scott do not. Choose from Gladiators, kidnappers, and comedians.
Exodus: Gods and Kings
Exodus: Gods and Kings should be renamed Exodus: Christian Bale and Sigourney Weaver Want a Big Paycheck. A Ridley Scott movie (Gladiator, Prometheus etc.), it’s about Ancient Egypt, a gladiator named Moses (Bale, and yup, that one) and a Pharaoh King, and the freeing of slaves (basically, a juiced-up Ten Commandments from the Old Testament). There’s sword fighting, men in armor, people talking really low in the dark, lots of scenes with water and storms, and shouting, all kinds of shouting! Zzzzzz.
Perfect For: People who like men fighting in armor, Christian Bale’s low, husky growl, and big blockbusters. Probably not for the small children.
What the Critics Say: Meh. Writes the Seattle Times: “Its grandiose set pieces feel empty and imitative (Scott pulled off this kind of thing much more successfully in Gladiator), and the whole picture feels glitzy and hollow at the core.” Says the L.A. Weekly: “Ridley Scott can't decide if making rivers run with blood is heroic or horrific - you sense he'd rather make Gladiator II: Attack of the Frogs.”
Our Take: Firing up Gladiator on Netflix.
Watch the Trailer:
Inherent Vice
Auteur director Paul Thomas Anderson is back with another sprawling, epic, movie with a large celebrity cast along the lines of Magnolia and Boogie Nights. Adapted from a Thomas Pychon book, it stars Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, omigosh my hands are getting tired from typing, Martin Short and the rest of the world. Based on the Thomas Pynchon novel and set in the 1960s, the plot revolves around a kidnapping of a billionaire that goes awry. (But of course it does.)
Perfect For: You liked Boogie Nights and Magnolia and like watching Joaquin Phoenix go all Method Actor.
What the Critics Say: Good, but imperfect. Writes the New York Times: “Mr. Anderson has condensed the book with surgical precision, ditching certain subplots, characters and locales while retaining the novel's sociopolitical tug, barbed asides and chokingly funny details.” And says the New Yorker: “"Inherent Vice" is not only the first Pynchon movie; it could also, I suspect, turn out to be the last. Either way, it is the best and the most exasperating that we'll ever have.”
Our Take: I’ll take imperfect ambitious movies over safe, “perfect” films anytime.
Watch the Trailer:
Top Five
Chris Rock returns (as writer, director and star) in a somewhat meta part about a high-flying comic actor who is trying to resurrect his career, which has hit the skids because people think he’s no longer funny. He’s about to get married in a very public way to a very Kardashian-esque superstar with cameras filming their every move, and he’s doing press to promote his comeback movie, which could turn out to be a very good, or a very bad idea. Also starring Rosario Dawson, Gabrielle Union, Tracy Morgan, and Cedric the Entertainer.
Perfect For: Fans of Chris Rock, good comedy.
What the Critics Say: A great, uneven, hilarious movie. Entertainment Weekly: “You come away from it with the thrilling sensation that you're seeing an artist you thought you knew reinvent himself.” And says the Village Voice: “Top Five is a reminder that as often as comedy fails us, sometimes it's our best hope for resuscitation. Seeing it at the end of a crap week, I suddenly felt I could breathe again.”
Our Take: For once, it looks like more than the trailer will be funny. Going!
Watch the Trailer:
