This Weekend, Watch This
A comparison of the new releases for February 5, 2010
By Curt David
February 5, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
More likely than not, each weekend there is a movie that you have never heard of in the theaters. I'll save you the hassle of researching every movie, by comparing the new releases for each weekend in this column. Then, I'll tell you which movie to watch.
For the weekend of February 5th, the new movies in wide release are From Paris with Love and Dear John.
| From Paris with Love | Dear John | WINNER (1 point per category) | |
| Clearest Title | Is this a typical romantic movie for February? Probably. | Is this a typical movie about someone writing a letter to John? Probably. | It is almost Valentine's Day, so a movie with Love in the title should automatically win this round. |
| Best Genre & Rating | Action/Thriller
Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, drug content, pervasive language and brief sexuality. | Romance/Drama
Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and drama. | WHOAA!!!!!! From Paris with Love is NOT a romantic comedy!!!! It has strong bloody violence throughout! Easily wins this round! |
| Cleverest Tagline (out of 5 stars) | Two agents. One City. No merci. Brilliant!!!! It sounds like "No mercy," like a violent movie, but it is spelled "Merci," like the French word for 'thank-you'! 5/5 stars | Is duty enough reason to live a lie? While not clever per se, it does make me interested in finding out about the plot. 1/5 stars | No mercy about it, From Paris with Love has the first 5/5 tagline of 2010. Merci very much! |
| Best Part of Trailer | Tough guy going to take down some terrorists.... always enjoyable to watch. | ANOTHER movie saying it has a connection to The Notebook...enjoyability factor dependent on the viewer. | The quotes in the trailer: "That's how I do things!" "Did I say we were done?" and "It's about terrorists!" may be the coolest lines ever in a film (or the worst). The movie will tell, but for now its trailer wins the point. |
| Coolest Lead Actor | John "Hairspray" Travolta was awesome in Face/Off. | Channing "Step Up" Tatum was awesome in G.I. Joe. | With Pulp Fiction, Look Who's Talking, and Grease, Travolta clearly wins this round. |
| Best Cast Member | Jonathan "The Tudors" Rhys Meyers was in the great film Bend It like Beckham. | Amanda "Big Love" Seyfried was in the film Mamma Mia! | Despite not seeing Amanda in any of her IMDb credits, she was captivating to watch in this trailer. She should be in more movies! Until then, here's a point for her. |
| Best Street Cred For the Production | Director Pierre Morel was also the director of Taken. | Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, who also brought us Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, and The Notebook. | Nicholas Sparks (and The Notebook) has forever changed advertising for romantic movies. He wins this round. |
So out of a maximum of 7 points per movie, From Paris with Love scores 5 points and Dear John scores 2 points.
You may interpret this column for your own movie preferences. For example, if you like romantic movies, then please see When in Rome, Dear John, and next week's Valentine's Day. However, if you are still on the fence, please read the following conclusions from the scientific data gathered in this column.
Conclusion 1: On paper, From Paris with Love is the movie to watch this weekend.
Conclusion 2: The word "per se" used in this column is Latin, not French.
Conclusion 3: No merci!!!! Do you realize how awesomely awesome that pun is? I mean really, I don't know if you actually appreciate the genius behind that one. Merci! Mercy! Killing in Paris. A new bar has been set for movie taglines. GENIUS!