As the summer rolls on, we have three movies coming out this week. Vinny Chase and the boys back in Hollywood with Entourage, Melissa McCarthy is getting her Spy on, and we’re getting another chapter of Insidious.
Just remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, but rather predicting where they'll end up on the Tomatometer. Let's take a look at what This Rotten Week has to offer.
POSTER HERE, LINK IT TO PREVIEW PAGE
PREDICTION RATING HERE, LINK IT TO ROTTEN TOMATOES PAGE
Rotten Watch Prediction
When we last left Vinny Chase and company, they were standing on a runway in the midst of an incredible upswing in fortune (of which they already had quite a bit). Vince was back getting major studio roles while flying off to get married. E and Sloan had reconciled and she now wanted him around as the father to their baby. Turtle was a millionaire thanks to Vinny holding his Avion stock. Ari had quit his job and was off to Spain. And Drama’s series was a hit. All was good in this bunch… but evidently the story had to continue with an Entourage movie.
You can get a taste of the big screen L.A. life in the trailer for Entourage below:
Entourage the show, while entertaining, rarely contained any real gravity or drama for the characters. There appeared to have been an unstated (or maybe stated) agreement among the writers that things would "all work out" in the end, and it echoed much of Vince’s mantra throughout the show. The bro was rarely overly worried about anything and rarely contemplated any downside. Outside of a few instances here and there throughout the show’s eight-season run, the viewer rarely had pause for concern. These bros were going to bro their way to the top no matter the faux obstacle. This was fine for the first couple of seasons, but wore thin as time went on. From a dramatic perspective, the show became boring.
And now x years later they are at it again. We get a movie with similar stakes (that is to say, no stakes). The gang still appears at the top of the Hollywood food chain with Vince directing his own flick financed by Ari’s company. Sure, he’s running it into the ground, but does anyone believe this to be the case? And while Ari gives the traditional, once per season soliloquy akin to "If this fails, Vince won’t come back from it," the truth is that we all know this to be false.
Doug Ellin is in the director chair after heading up the show, and from the looks of the trailer this is the chance to get in all of the bit parts and cameos they never had time for during the series’ HBO run. It’s a celebrity cavalcade interspersed with yachts, sports cars, mansions, and thin elements of a story. Bros will love it. Critics won’t.
PREDICTION RATING HERE, LINK IT TO ROTTEN TOMATOES PAGE
Rotten Watch Prediction
This summer is filled with all kinds of action heroes, from the team that makes up The Avengers, to Dwayne Johnson as a helicopter pilot ready to defeat an earthquake tearing through California. Well, now it’s Melissa McCarthy’s turn to take that role on, becoming a James Bond-esque agent in Paul Feig’s new comedy Spy.
Find out whether or not she has the espionage skills in the trailer below:
Melissa McCarthy has had an interesting career. She made a mark in Bridesmaids, playing a hilarious part, and has also been a presence on TV for a long run thanks to Mike and Molly. But the movie career has been hit or miss. For every Bridesmaids or The Heat, there are two of flicks like Tammy (23%) and Identity Thief (19%). Seeing as how she plays much of the same character in everything she does, I think it mostly boils down to a selection problem. When the material is strong, she nails it and can really carry much of a film. When it’s weak, her shtick isn’t enough to make up the difference and the film falls flat. Much the same can be said for the majority of the comedic field, though I do think other folks are little more discerning with the roles they take.
There’s hope for this movie because she’s teamed once again with director Paul Feig, who helmed Bridesmaids (90%) and The Heat (65%). He’s had experiencing making critically-acclaimed comedies with McCarthy in major roles. He’s also just a funny dude in general, and early love for Spy points to this flick maybe being his highest score yet. With twenty-six reviews in the bag it’s sitting at a cool 96%. That’s fantastic for any movie, especially for a comedy. It’s evident in the trailer where I found myself laughing a good two or three times. Ex teacher-turned CIA analyst- turned spy had McCarthy in a bunch of silly situations with a numbers of other comedic pieces around her. It looks like a winner.
PREDICTION RATING HERE, LINK IT TO ROTTEN TOMATOES PAGE
Rotten Watch Prediction
I’ve kind of hammered this point home with these kind of movies before, but at what point when the bumps and creeps are happening around your house do you just choose to move? I’m always amazed by what homeowners are willing to endure when their house is haunted. Is it that much of a buyer’s market that you can’t just stick a For Sale sign in the front yard and hightail it to the nearest hotel? Do we really have to stick around for the mass murders because you have such a great interest rate or something? Hopefully Insidious: Chapter 3 will do something to acknowledge this issue.
Check out the ghosts back in action in the trailer for the new horror film below:
This is the third chapter of the Insidious franchise – and I’ll admit that I haven’t seen the first two in the series. I’m on record as being no fan of horror movies, as I’m perfectly able to scare myself and worry without some film just adding to my own engrained paranoia. So no, I won’t be watching this one either.
Sure there were parts of the trailer that made me jump some here and there, though it wasn’t as if I didn’t see the moments coming. This is always the balance with horror flicks: how much are filmmakers able to keep scaring viewers when so many of the tricks have been used time and time again?
This latest is a prequel to the first two movies in which supernatural spirits are lurking around houses looking to fuck shit up anyway possible. Director Leigh Whannell helms his first major picture after helping pen Insidious (61%) and Insidious: Chapter 2 (38%), as well as having a hand in a bunch of the Saw flicks. So the dude knows horror. I suspect this film finishes above the bottom of the gutter because they keep it tight enough, but is a far cry from even the original.
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Last week was a pretty good run for the Rotten Watch, with one prediction hitting and the other falling just out of range. I had San Andreas (Predicted: 55% Actual: 50%) close to the middle, and it landed just about right there. It was mostly a matter of perspective with critics. Those that went in looking for nothing more than a silly, high octane disaster film got just what they expected. A ton of cool effects, very little story and a whole lot of The Rock. Those that went in wanting to see something groundbreaking (pun intended) got all of those things as well, they just didn’t like them. It looks like Eric Eisenberg fell in the latter group with his review calling the narrative an embarrassment. Of course it was. The whole movie’s around a giant earthquake. Some people looked past that though and it split the vote.
Meanwhile, I had a feeling Aloha (Predicted: 32% Actual: 20%) would be crap. And it was even crappier than I thought. When I couldn’t make it through the trailer, I should have gone even lower with my score, but hedged a bit on Cameron Crowe and the cast. I was wrong.
Next time around we head back to a park of dinosaurs. It’s going to be a Rotten Week!
