After a number of weeks featuring Academy Award nominees on home video, we hit another quiet period. Sure, we’ve got a much-anticipated comedy sequel and a big-budget action film, but beyond that, there isn’t much to talk about. Read on for details:
Despite its 66% Tomatometer score, 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is kind of a big deal, adored by many who can rattle off its numerous quoteworthy lines in rapid succession. Though it’s highly unlikely it will enjoy the same cult following, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues still managed to impress critics, who were much more generous this time around. Will Ferrell reprises his role as the legendary newsman, who gathers the old Channel 4 News Team when he’s called upon to help launch the first 24-hour news network. With competition in the form of pretty-boy hotshot Jack Lime (James Marsden), Burgundy discovers that simply telling people what they want to hear is the ticket to high ratings. Anchorman 2 is wacky, a bit disjointed, and altogether absurd, but critics say it manages to capture the essence of its predecessor fairly well, and it’s Certified Fresh at 74%.
Universal took a chance on first-time director Carl Rinsch, granting him a $170 million budget to film a stylized interpretation of a legendary Japanese tale with Keanu Reeves attached to star, and according to most critics, the risk did not pay off. The story, an oft-told piece of folklore, centers on a group of 47 samurai who meticulously plot revenge on a local lord when his actions lead to the death of their own master. Except, in this reimagining, there are witches and magic and giant samurai. While critics didn’t have a problem with the lavish visuals, they did take issue with the film’s unrelenting bleakness, which felt especially out of place for an ostensibly fantastical take on the classic story. Also, though its supporting cast included veteran Japanese actors like Hiroyuki Sanada (Sunshine, The Last Samurai), Tadanobu Asano (Mongol, Thor), and Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, Pacific Rim), there was little they could do with such poorly fleshed out characters. At 12% on the Tomatometer, 47 Ronin will probably not be remembered as one of the better retellings of the legend.
Take three popular actors from ongoing HBO series and River Tam from Firefly, throw them all into a horror-comedy about live action role-playing, and mix in some cameos from folks like Community‘s Abed and Liam McPoyle from It’s Always Sunny, and you’ve got Knights of Badassdom. Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Steve Zahn (Treme), and Summer Glau are a group of fantasy LARPers who accidentally unleash a bloodthirsty succubus during a weekend battle; as the succubus wreaks havoc among the event’s participants, the gang try to figure out how to stop her. Knights of Badassdom was a small indie comedy that got a teeny-tiny release back in January, so it only has a handful of reviews, but it’s worth mentioning since Dinklage is so hot right now, and we’re all excited for the return of Game of Thrones this weekend.
