Opening Everywhere: Out of the Furnace
Opening Somwehere: The Last Days on Mars, Twice Born, Inside Llewyn Davis
FilmDrunk Suggests: I’m not trying to imply any of these movies are on my radar for this year’s Worst Movies list – coming to you on December 18 – but The Last Days on Mars isn’t exactly pulling the best reviews, so I’ve got that one on my list of films to watch. And boy have I watched some doozies over the past several months. But if you’ve got a particular film that you hated this year that you want me to consider, mention it in the comments and I’ll let you know if it’s in the conversation that I’m having with all of the miserable voices in my noggin.
Out of the Furnace
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 53% critics, 71% audience
Gratuitous Review Quotes:
Yes it has a fine cast, and all do good work. But this overly obvious film about the downward spiral lives of lower-class brothers barely scraping by in life goes through mostly expected motions. – Tom Long, Detroit News
Although Out of the Furnace takes place just a few years back in this new millennium, Scott Cooper’s solemn, blood-soaked drama about brothers and broken dreams feels like it’s of some different, ancient time. – Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Armchair Analysis: You can read Vince’s review here. Or you can read my review here.
Inside Llewyn Davis
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 95% critics, 83% audience
Gratuitous Review Quotes:
In top form, Joel and Ethan Coen offer up feel-bad experiences that, like fine blues medleys, make you feel good (although with an acidulous aftertaste). Inside Llewyn Davis is one of their best. – Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
If you love the Coens, or follow folk music, or hold fast to this period of history and that patch of New York, then the film can hardly help striking a chord. – Anthony Lane, New Yorker
Armchair Analysis: If you’re going to make a movie with a title that invokes the thought of being inside a human being in a non-pornographic or masochistic way, then I expect it to be more like Innerspace. This doesn’t look like Innerspace.
The Last Days on Mars
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 25% critics, 29% audience
Gratuitous Review Quotes:
The Last Days on Mars ultimately confirms what science has already spent billions of dollars establishing: There’s just no life here. – Geoff Pierre, Globe and Mail
Lean, muscular and on the money, The Last Days on Mars takes a familiar story and tells it so tautly that we are pleased to be on board. – Kenneth Turan, L.A. Times
Armchair Analysis: I think it’s kind of messed up that we haven’t even colonized Mars yet and we’re already making movies about the planet’s last days. That really says something about society’s modern pessimistic nature, I think.
Twice Born
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 20% critics, 72% audience
Gratuitous Review Quotes:
Yes, it’s all as clunky and tasteless as the description suggests, and the awkward casting doesn’t improve this overlong drama. – Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com
Whatever thoughtful instincts Mr. Castellitto might possess are undermined by his addiction to cinematic prettiness. – A.O. Scott, N.Y. Times
Armchair Analysis: More like twice baked. As in a potato. Whatever, I’m fat and I haven’t eaten since breakfast.