We have two movies on the docket this weekm as the summer starts to ramp into season. This time around we’ve got a visit to a futuristic world of tomorrow and another go around with the poltergeist.
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.
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PREDICTION RATING HERE, LINK IT TO ROTTEN TOMATOES PAGE
Rotten Watch Prediction
A secret world living side-by-side our universe created and populated by the best and brightest that you can only get into by invitation? I’m surprised they haven’t called me yet. Assuming it’s only a matter of time before the phone rings and I’m off to my next great adventure. But will the movie do justice to Bra Bird’s film?
See the secret world in the trailer for Tomorrowland below:
The conceit behind Tomorrowland is that sometime in the past, a group of geniuses meant to preserve a glimmering and shiny hope for the future by creating a magical place where only the best and brightest could visit. This world looks very much like old-fashioned visions of the future. The Tomorrowland here is what we might have envisioned the future to be at some other point in the twentieth century, replete with hovercrafts, jetpacks, new age outfits and an assortment of other pieces of antiquated sci-fi.
Brad Bird is at the helm here in his first feature film since Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (93%). He’s crushed it critically also with animated films Ratatouille (98%) and The Incredibles (97%). Dude knows how to tell a story for sure. Though I will say, it’s the story in this one that I’m most worried about. There’s no doubt the visuals in Tomorrowland are on point. The trailer shows as much with a ton of cool odds and ends
But it’s tough to gauge the story. Athena (Raffey Cassidey) and Frank (George Clooney) team up to save Tomorrowland from some sort of threat. But beyond that it’s tough to tell as much of the trailer is the pair running around through a flurry of different settings, and getting around on any means of transportation including at one point a bathtub turned rocket ship. But I am not completely certain what’s going on. Look, Bird and screenwriter Damon Lindelof deserve about as much benefit of the doubt as anyone, but that no reviews are out yet is troubling. And the trailer, while visual, isn’t exactly enlightening. We shall see, but I’m not willing to predict it within the rest of Bird’s stellar resume.
PREDICTION RATING HERE, LINK IT TO ROTTEN TOMATOES PAGE
Rotten Watch Prediction
Consider this a public service announcement to all you new homeowners out there: if, at any point, you notice something weird happening in your new digs, don’t just dance around the issue. Electronics turn on without warning, dolls move around, things appear in mirrors, etc. Just pack up and get that For Sale sign on the front lawn as quick as possible. Don’t try to explain it away. Just move and sell the thing at a loss if need be.
See a family that waits too long to get it back on the market in the trailer for Poltergeist below:
The thing about evil spirits and hauntings is that the ghouls are pretty generous at first. They start small and escalate, giving the homeowner plenty of time and reason to make a decision to leave. The baddies are pretty nice like that. It would be one thing if you were sitting down as a family for your first new house meal and the walls started bleeding and your dining room table impaled and killed everyone. No. That isn’t how spirits roll. They like more of a slow burn. The problem is that new homeowners, with rose-colored glasses on overlook the obvious signs, leaving the evil spirits little choice but to up the ante.
Such is that case, once again, with Poltergeist. This is a reboot of the 1980’s flick that made it a scary endeavor to even think about turning your television on at night. This one looks like a basic cut and paste. Same ideas, characters and spookiness. Sure it looks scary from time to time, but we’ve seen this once already and a thousand times since.
Director Gil Kenan has a couple of decent films under his belt with Monster House (74%) and City of Ember (53%). I don’t think this new one ends up on the positive side of the scale, mostly because it’s old hat. A remake should have diminishing returns right out of the gate. And unless you bring something completely new, what are we really watching but a newer version of something we’ve already experienced.
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We had two movies last week, and I was wrong on both. Though, to be honest, I’m less upset when I’m wrong on the low side because it means the flicks were better than expected.
For starters, Mad Max: Fury Road (Predicted: 68% Actual: 99%) is crushing. This kind of score for any film is something to behold and for a sci-fi, dystopian action thriller it’s really something. I mean really something. Critics are going nuts over the film as visual and speed-induced masterpiece. It takes a special kind of film to be both critically-acclaimed and ferociously violent. But George Miller has pulled it off. CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg gave it four and a half stars in his review, calling it "a special film…" This is why summer movies are made.
Meanwhile, Pitch Perfect 2 (Predicted: 50% Actual: 70%) also finished above expectation. The Bellas came back and proved you can have another decent film about competitive a capella singing. It’s real tough for sequels to keep pace with the originals but this one appears to hold up. I was worried the jokes would be too retread to finish high enough with critics. But I appear wrong on that account. The original finished at 81% putting the sequel not too far behind. Again, I don’t mind being wrong when the movies actually turn out to be good.
Next time around we say Aloha to San Andreas. It’s going to be a Rotten Week!
