This Weekend, Watch This
A comparison for the new releases for April 24-26, 2015
By Curt David
April 24, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
For the weekend of April 24th, the new movies in wide release are The Age of Adaline, Little Boy (in less of a wide release), and Ex Machina (in a wide expansion).
| The Age of Adaline | Little Boy | Ex Machina | WINNER (1 point per category) | |
| Clearest Title | Don’t know what this is about | Don’t know what this is about | Don’t know what this is about | 1/3 point each. |
| Best Genre and Rating | Drama/Romance
Rated PG-13 for a suggestive comment | Dramedy
Rated PG-13 for some mature thematic material and violence | Sci-Fi
Rated R for graphic nudity, language, sexual references and some violence | Ex Machina wins the point for not being PG-13 or a drama. |
| Best Plot (in haiku form) | Girl lives forever Never ages. Tough to love Then she loves someone | Little boy has faith Makes mountain move. But can he, Bring dad home from war? | They create A.I. Which never is good idea Bad stuff might happen | Little Boy wins best plot. |
| Best Trailer | PROS: Interesting concept, lots of well-dressed people
CONS: I think she falls in love with the young guy, but I think I’d root for the old guy in the trailer (who is more her age) | PROS: Kid believes he can do anything, can he bring his dad home from war? Tear jerker, inspirational.
CONS: May have religious bent, but that might not be a con | PROS: Super creepy trailer that hardly shows any of the movie, but shows real quotes from real people saying how bad A.I. really is
CONS: None | Adaline had a good trailer. Little Boy had a great trailer. Then Ex Machina had a WOWZA trailer. Point for A.I. |
| Coolest Lead Actor | Blake Lively from Gossip Girl. | Jakob Salvati is a kid. | Domhnall Gleeson was Bill Weasley in Harry Potter. | Bill Weasley wins this point. |
| Best Cast | Harrison Ford (Star Wars), Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist), and Michiel Huisman (Game of Thrones) | Kevin James (King of Queens) and Emily Watson (War Horse) | Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) | Adaline wins this point. |
| Best Street Cred For the Production | Director Lee Toland Krieger also directed Celeste & Jesse Forever. | Writer and director Alejandro Monteverde also wrote and directed Bella. | Writer and Director Alex Garland also wrote 28 Days Later and Never Let Me Go. | Another 1/3 point all around. |
So out of a maximum of 7 points per movie, Ex Machina scores 3 and 2/3 points, The Age of Adaline scores 1 and 2/3 points (and a gold star), and Little Boy also scores 1 and 2/3 points.
You may interpret this column for your own movie preferences. For example, if you like movies that inspire you, feel free not to watch Little Boy. 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, Ex Machina is the best movie to watch this weekend.
Conclusion 2: Each week I give a gold star to the movie with the best tagline. Adaline’s “The world has changed in the last century. Adaline has not,” beats Little Boy’s “Believe the Impossible,” and Machina’s “What happens if I fail your test?”
Conclusion 3: One of the few weeks I enjoyed watching all the trailers. Well played Hollywood.