This Weekend, Watch This
A comparison of the new releases for May 6, 2011
By Curt David
May 6, 2011
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 May 6th, the movies in wide release are Jumping the Broom, Something Borrowed, and Thor.
| Jumping the Broom | Something Borrowed | Thor | WINNER (1 point per category) | |
| Clearest Title | I think this has to do with a marriage tradition. | This definitely has to deal with a wedding. | A movie about a Norse God? Would be cool. Marvel's Norse God? Very cool. | While Thor is popular, just as many people could figure out that "Something Borrowed" is a chick flick. Both movies will split the point. |
| Best Genre and Rating | Comedy:
Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and language. | Romantic Comedy:
Rated PG-13 for sexual content including dialogue, and some drug material. | Action:
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence. | Thor's intense sci-fi action pounds the crap out of the other genres. Point. |
| Cleverest Tagline (out of 5 stars) | "Sometimes the only way to get past family drama... is to jump over it."
1/5 Kind of clever, but who really talks about "jumping the broom" these days? | "It's a thin line between love and friendship."
Horrible tagline. The whole movie is about a girl in love with a guy with a fiance. 0/5 | "Two worlds. One hero."
He's from heaven. And is now on Earth. Meh. 2/5 | I wish one of these movies borrowed a better tagline from another movie. Thor barely wins this round. |
| Best Part of Trailer | It looks entertaining. If you think the trailer is your kind of movie, it probably will be. | There wasn't one. This is a horrible plot even for a chick flick. | The guy looks super tough. And it looks like it combines realism and mythology pretty well. | And did I mention Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings? Automatic point for Thor. |
| Coolest Lead Actor | Angela Bassett from Malcolm X and Boyz in the Hood. | Ginnifer Goodwin from Big Love and He's Just Not That Into You. | Chris Hemsworth from a small part in the Star Trek movie. | Chris might be popular soon, and Angela used to be, but Ginnifer is everywhere these days. Point for her. |
| Best Cast | Loretta Devine (Boston Public), Julie Bowen (Modern Family), Paula Patton (Deja Vu), and singer Romeo. | Kate Hudson (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) and John Krasinski (The Office). | Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal), Kat Dennings (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist), and Rene Russo (Get Shorty) | Thor breaks out the big guns and hammers and nails this round down (too much word play?) Point. |
| Best Street Cred For the Production | Writer Elizabeth Hunter has also written Beauty Shop. | Director Luke Greenfield has also directed The Animal and The Girl Next Girl. | Director Kenneth Branagh (acted in Hamlet V and Wild Wild West) has also directed Hamlet V and Much Ado About Nothing. | Kenneth Branagh has been nominated for four Oscars and brings some more street cred to this production. |
So out of a maximum of 7 points per movie, Thor scores 5 and 1/2 points, Something Borrowed scores 1 and 1/2 points, and Jumping the Broom scores 0 points.
You may interpret this column for your own movie preferences. For example, if you like chick flicks where the main characters get rewarded for infidelity, feel free to watch Something Borrowed this weekend. 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, the best movie to watch this weekend is Thor.
Conclusion 2: After watching Nick and Norah's infinite playlist, I couldn't stop thinking about Kat Dennings for two months.
Conclusion 3: Thor...meh. X-Men: First Class...heck yeah. Four weeks, baby.