Even after the mega-dump of movies at the cinemas last week, we still have a full slate of movies this week. So you better keep up, or there will be a lot of movies to catch up to!
The Martian
Directed by: Ridley Scott
With: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Michael Peña, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Heads up: Our top pick of the week, The Martian is Ridley Scott‘s best film in years, even if it isn’t really a Ridley Scott film. It features a career-best from Matt Damon, as an astronaut stranded on Mars and everyone’s (especially his own) attempt to get back to Earth alive. The movie boasts a superlative script from Drew Goddard and impeccable production values. And that supporting cast! It also does one thing which was probably the most difficult to pull off: it makes Science “cool”, yo!
Pan
Directed by: Joe Wright
With: Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara, and Amanda Seyfried.
Heads up: The marketing was off, the trailers couldn’t make those uninterested want to bother with it. And it seems that the movie follows suit. This origin story of Peter Pan doesn’t soar so much. Lloyd Bayer in his 2½ star review says the movie “is an unending barrage of visual effects when it could have sufficed as a magical origins story“.
Legend
Directed by: Brian Helgeland
With: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, and Taron Egerton.
Heads up: Tom Hardy in a double-role as twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray, the most notorious gangsters in British history, donning 60s fashion. The movie hasn’t received a lot of love, but critics unanimously agree that the movie is worth it just for Tom Hardy‘s performance(s). (Side note: I’d pay to watch Tom Hardy play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!)
Cooties
Directed by: Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion
With: Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, and Alison Pill.
Heads up: Kids become into … kid zombies. Now, who in their right mind wants to watch adults kill disfigured kids in increasingly absurd ways, and laugh at it all? How does this even get made?
The Stranger
Directed by: Guillermo Amoedo
With: Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, and Aaron Burns.
Heads up: A small Canadian town plunges into a bloodbath after the arrival of a mysterious strrrrangerrrr. Mandatory horror film of the week for those with a compulsive need to watch. Others: please move on, nothing here, keep moving.
Jazbaa
Directed by: Sanjay Gupta
With: Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi, and Aishwarya Rai.
Heads up: An official remake of a Korean film that wasn’t good to begin with. Starring an actress who wasn’t good at acting to begin with. Directed by a director who lost his flair long ago. But… Bollywood!
