TAGGED AS: Certified Fresh
This week at the movies, we’ve got time-traveling Marvel mutants (X-Men: Days of Future Past, starring Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence) and a misbegotten family vacation (Blended, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore). What do the critics have to say?
Marvel fans, the wait is over, and the news is good. Critics say X-Men: Days of Future Past is nearly everything a summer blockbuster should be: star-studded, action-packed, ambitious, thoughtful, and above all, fun. This time out, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) goes back in time to prevent an assassination that, if it’s carried out, will lead to the creation of a new weapons system that threatens the existence of the X-Men — and potentially, all of humanity. The pundits say the Certified Fresh X-Men: Days of Future Past is so filled with detail that it may occasionally confuse non-diehards, but director Bryan Singer keeps the action moving at such a confident pace that it’s difficult not to avoid getting into the spirit of things. (Check out our video interview with the stars, as well as this week’s Total Recall, in which we count down every X-Men movie by Tomatometer.)
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore have teamed up on the big screen twice before, but if you’re hoping that Blended offers an amiable good time in the vein of The Wedding Singer or 50 First Dates, critics say you’re out of luck with this odd, unfunny mix of would-be laughs and excessive sentimentality. After a disastrous blind date, single parents Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) agree to never see each other again. Naturally, they both wind up at the same South African resort, and after some wacky hijinks involving the local wildlife, they discover they actually like each other. The pundits say Blended is pretty desperate stuff — it’s got a creaky plot, a truckload of stereotypical characters, and, worst of all, a shortage of funny gags. (Watch our video interview with the stars, and flip through our gallery of memorable on-screen couples.)
BB King: The Life of Riley, a documentary about the life and career of the legendary blues master, is at 100 percent.
A World Not Ours, a documentary about multiple generations of a family living in a Palestinian refugee camp, is at 100 percent.
Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors, a drama about a child with Asperger’s syndrome who goes missing in the New York City subway system, is at 94 percent.
Cold in July, starring Michael C. Hall and Sam Shepard in a thriller about a man whose life unravels after he shoots a home invader, is at 93 percent.
Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s The Dance of Reality, a surrealist meditation on the director’s childhood in Chile, is at 90 percent.
Gore Vidal: The United States Of Amnesia, a doc about the career of the celebrated writer and intellectual, is at 86 percent.
Words And Pictures, starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche in a romantic comedy about two down-and-out professors who spark debate between their students and each other, is at 38 percent.
The Love Punch, starring Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson as a divorced couple planning a diamond heist, is at 28 percent.
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, starring Robin Williams and Mila Kunis in a dramedy about an ailing man who attempts to make amends for his bad behavior, is at seven percent.
