Movie reviews for February 18
Apparently Die Hard isn't dead yet. A Good Day to die hard, the latest in the Bruce Willis series took in 25 million for first place in the box office race, while last week's champ, Identity Thief slipped to second with 23.4 million. Safe Haven was third with 21.4 million, Escape From Planet Earth was fourth with 16.1 million and Beautiful Creatures was sixth with 7.5 million. Here's the full top 10 list:
1. "A Good Day to Die Hard," $25 million
2. "Identity Thief," $23.4 million
3. "Safe Haven," $21.4 million
4. "Escape from Planet Earth," $16.1 million
5. "Warm Bodies," $9 million
6. "Beautiful Creatures," $7.5 million
7. "Side Effects," $6.3 million
8. "Silver Linings Playbook," $6.1 million
9. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $3.5 million
10. "Zero Dark Thirty," $3.1 million
(Amour - Sony Pictures Classics - Rated PG-13
Featuring what I think is the best performance by an actress all year, Amour stars 85 year old Emanuelle Riva and French film legend Jean-Louis Trintignant (tront ee yo) in a harrowing, heartbreaking tale of aging, love and heartbreak. This incredibly moving, tragic film stuck with me for days. I still get choked up thinking about it. 5 Stars Out of 5
Beautiful Creatures - Warner Brothers - Rated PG-13
Beautiful Creatures looks like it is just another film going after the Twilight audience. It appears the writer was addicted to 60's TV. It's Bewitched! A witch falls in love with a mortal. Change them into teenagers with teen angst and twinkle twinkle twinkle - you've got potential for worldwide phenomenon. Well, maybe not, but I was more than a little surprised. I was actually moderately entertained. It's not beautiful, but it's semi-attractive.
3 Stars Out of 5
Escape From Planet Earth - The Weinstein Company - Rated PG
You can tell what Escape From Planet Earth is going to be from its bland voice cast: Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, Rob Corddry...Quick! think of any of their voices! You can't, can you. They aren't all that great in movies where you can see them, let alone where you can't. The net result is inert and unremarkable. The story is cookie cutter and the animation appears to be a cross between Monsters Inc, Buzz Lightyear and some fish. Nothing original, but it is shiny. It'll be in the bargain bin at Savers in six months. I wanted to escape from this movie.
2 1/2 Stars Out of 5
Safe Haven - Relativity Media - Rated PG-13
If you look at the list of films made from Nicholas Sparks books, there is exactly one that is good. Safe Haven isn't it. Oh, you've got your requisite romp at the beach, a couple getting caught in a rainstorm, and pretty people with perfectly white teeth and perfectly toned abs. But there's not a lot of emotional range amongst the stupid parts. This time we've got "Sleeping with the Enemy" mixed in with a little "Ghost" and a couple of plot twists in the finale that are real doozies. I mean they are howlers. Laugh out loud ridiculous. I saw them a mile away, but thought, "nah…they won't be that dumb…" They are. My Safe Haven? As far away from this movie as possible. 2 Stars Out of 5
A Good Day to Die Hard - 20th Century Fox - Rated R
In A Good Day to Die Hard, Bruce Willis' character John McClain suddenly has a grown son. It's taken five movies to let us in on this development, but OK…maybe Maurey gave him a "You ARE the Father" moment between movies four and five. Anyway, this grown son works for the CIA (of course!) and McClain pops in on him in Russia during the middle of some spyjinks. Of course, this results in the destruction of more windows, cars, people and buildings than I could count, but that's just crazy ole' Bruce. He's just like that. He actually goes through not one, but two multiple rollover crashes, and then proceeds as if nothing has happened, without a scratch on his face. I guess there is a plot in there somewhere, but I couldn't tell through all the explosions. It's as big and dumb as a movie can come. One unbelievable event after another in a continuous string, with Willis winking and smirking at the camera as if to say, "Yeah, I know this is stupid, but I need the money." But really, Die Hard needs to die already. A "good" day to Die Hard was four movies ago. 1 Star Out of 5
See more of Bob's reviews on his website.
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