Opening Everywhere: The Fault in Our Stars, Edge of Tomorrow
Opening Somewhere: Willow Creek, Obvious Child, Trust Me
FilmDrunk Suggests: While I think that Edge of Tomorrow looks pretty awesome, even for a Tom Cruise movie, Vince actually saw it and thinks it was boring. Meanwhile, Shailene Woodley (more on her in a second) showed up at the premiere of The Fault in Our Stars with a pack of tissues because, in case you haven’t heard, it’s so sad, you guys. But I don’t want to make fun of it, because this ridiculous Slate piece railing against adults who read young adult novels makes me hope it gets 10 sequels now. Read whatever the hell you want, fellow human beings. As long as it’s not that Kendall and Kylie Jenner book or Slate, nobody should give a rat’s ass what you’re reading.
The Fault in Our Stars
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 81% critics, 93% audience
Gratuitous Review Quotes:
While it may not conform to one’s real-life expectations it certainly hues tightly to teen-flick conventions. – Geoff Pevere, Globe and Mail
The honest, human performances from stars Ansel Elgort and especially Shailene Woodley keep it grounded, even when things start to wander or threaten to get too precious. – Tom Long, Detroit News
Armchair Analysis: I don’t get Shailene Woodley’s appeal. I’m not talking about looks or her hippie-dippie lifestyle or anything meaningless like that. I just don’t get why she’s the next big thing. I (sadly) watched Divergent, and I’ve seen The Spectacular Now and The Descendants, and I’ve just never thought, “Damn, this girl can act.” I guess it doesn’t help that I haven’t liked any of those movies, so maybe if she starred in something good like an Ernest movie or a Bond film, I’d change my mind.
Edge of Tomorrow
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 90% critics, 91% audience
Gratuitous Review Quotes:
The metaphorical overlay of fantasy and history is the best thing Edge of Tomorrow has to offer — and, for much of its running time, that overlay is enough to lend the movie a shiver of curious power. – Richard Brody, New Yorker
The whole thing begins to feel like a giant-screen videogame – with the gamer getting a little further, a little deeper, with each new push of the Start button. – Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Armchair Analysis: Again, I think this looks good and I am typically against supporting Tom Cruise’s craziness and phoniness, despite his recent, “Hey, I’m just like you guys” campaign. Vinky thinks it’s boring, but he also hates Big Trouble in Little China, in case I haven’t mentioned that 1,000 times this year.
Willow Creek
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 93% critics, 64% audience
Gratuitous Review Quotes:
Mr. Goldthwait gives us lovely, buttery daylight scenes, nicely relaxed leads and dialogue that pays attention to fluctuating gender dynamics. – Jeannette Catsouli, New York Times
Bobcat Goldthwait’s effective yet wholly unnecessary contribution to the genre of horror movies allegedly recovered from the hard drives of dead cameramen. – Peter Debruge, Variety
Armchair Analysis: Critics seem to love this found footage horror film about Bigfoot, written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, but *groans* found footage, seriously? Come on, man.
Obvious Child
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 90% critics, 85% audience
Gratuitous Review Quotes:
It’s a small, modest film that doesn’t act like it’s groundbreaking. But it is. – Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
The heart of the film lies in what it manages to say, without boldface or italics, about how hard it is for Donna, like so many of her anxious cohort, to make genuine connections, to break free of narcissistic constraints and become a stand-up grown-up. – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Armchair Analysis: Obvious Child is the story of a 20-something female stand-up comic (the always lovable Jenny Slate) who makes jokes about the obvious drawbacks of becoming an adult, but then she finds herself dumped, pregnant and unemployed. It sounds like Juno grew up and went through it all over again. But Whitty calls it groundbreaking and another critic called it a landmark film, so there’s something seriously great apparently happening in this movie.
Trust Me
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 50% critics, 53% audience
Gratuitous Review Quotes:
As the movie picks up speed and undergoes sudden, confusing plot reversals, it loses its satirical edge. – Stephen Holden, New York Times
“Trust Me” contains so much terrific writing, acting and observation that it becomes a bit easier to forgive writer-director-star Clark Gregg when his ambitions best him during the movie’s convoluted last third. – Gary Goldstein, LA Times
Armchair Analysis: Poor Agent Coulson. The reviews for this one aren’t very good – our own Heather gave it a C – although it would be hilarious if he told people it was actually an Avengers movie, so we could watch everyone freak out and change their minds.