TAGGED AS: Certified Fresh
This week at movies, we’ve got just one wide release: J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek Into Darkness, starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Captain Kirk and Mister Spock, respectively. What do the critics have to say?
As the 2009 Star Trek reboot demonstrated, this is not your father’s Enterprise — director J.J. Abrams has largely ditched the allegorical deepthink of the TV series for more visceral sci-fi thrills. And critics say that strategy pays off again with Star Trek Into Darkness, a sequel that delivers in excitement and spectacle what it lacks in depth. This time out, it’s up to the crew of the Enterprise to hunt down a mysterious adversary who has perpetrated an act of intergalactic terrorism — and who has ambitions to destroy the Starfleet. The pundits say the Certified Fresh Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t quite as thrilling as its predecessor, but it’s still an action-packed popcorn flick with witty dialogue and enough references to Trek lore to (mostly) placate diehards. (Check out this week’s Total Recall for a rundown of all the Star Trek movies, as well as a gallery of the stars of Into Darkness.)
The Fruit Hunters, a documentary about people who travel the globe in search of rare and delicious fruits, is at 100 percent.
Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha, starring Greta Gerwig in a dramedy about an aspiring dancer in the midst of various personal tribulations, is at 90 percent.
Augustine, a period drama about a kitchen maid suffering from seizures who attracts the interest of an influential neurologist, is at 86 percent.
Becoming Traviata, a doc about an adventurous staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, is at 75 percent.
The South Korean import Pieta, a drama about a loan shark who’s visited by a mysterious woman claiming to be his mother, is at 71 percent.
Black Rock, starring Kate Bosworth and Lake Bell in a thriller about a trio of friends on a camping trip who are pursued by vicious killers, is at 38 percent (check out our interview with the cast here).
The English Teacher, starring Julianne Moore and Greg Kinnear in a drama about a reserved teacher who helps a gifted student to become a playwright, is at 30 percent.
33 Postcards, starring Guy Pearce in a drama about a Chinese orphan who develops a friendship with her Australian sponsor and is pulled into his criminal schemes, is at 25 percent.
Erased, starring Aaron Eckhart and Olga Kurylenko in a thriller about an ex-CIA agent caught up in an international conspiracy, is at 21 percent.
