August 9th
Box Office
$26 million opening wknd
$146 million domestic total
$249 million worldwide total
Review: The premise my be entirely predictable - a group of people on a road trip grow to care for one another as they encounter some zany situations and make some raunchy jokes - but We're the Millers is surprising hilarious. As "family" members pretending to be related to smuggle weed across the border from Mexico, Jennifer Aniston and Emma Roberts do well, Jason Sudeikis is a comedy pro, and Will Poulter steals every seen he's in. Overall, it's a quick, snappy film that could have benefited from a more inventive plot, but makes you laugh out loud anyways.
The Final Word: 3/4 - Go buy a matinee ticket.
August 16th
Box Office
$25 million opening wknd
$113 million domestic total
$125 million worldwide total
Review: It's always great when Hollywood green lights films about race. Admittedly, they do it because such films are often easy bait for end-of-the-year awards, but regardless they still have the effect of reminding us of our not-too-far-away past and that race is not an issue that has gone away, even if we try to avoid the subject so much of the time. The Butler is one such film, constructing an effective long-term narrative of the civil rights movement in America. I only wish the character of the Butler had more of a personality with which to engage such complicated issues. I also felt like the film really pushed a sense of "white guilt" and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but there you go.
The Final Word: 3/4 - Go buy a matinee ticket
Box Office
$13 million opening wknd
$29 million domestic total
$59 million worldwide total
Review: I absolutely loved the first Kick-Ass movie, but something about this sequel just fell flat for me. Yes, Kick-Ass and Hit Girl are back and just as cool and Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes is really great and, in my opinion, underutilized. But the sheer number of people who decide to put their lives at risk to become heroes is absurd and the climactic fight at the end was boring and offered nothing we've never seen before. And that was the problem with Kick-Ass 2: while it was entertaining enough to watch once, nothing about it was memorable or done as well as the first film did it.
The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to rent it.
The September post will be up soon with reviews of Prisoners and Don Jon!
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