This Weekend, Watch This
A comparison of the new releases for May 14, 2010
By Curt David
May 14, 2010
New movies are released into theaters every weekend. How do you decide which movie to watch? Some people could pick a movie based on the title (surprisingly, Disney's Robin Hood, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights all have different genres). Some people watch trailers (misleading), some people listen to their friends (friends can be idiots), and some people only go to the movies if their Hollywood crush is on the screen (My Top 5: Movies I never would have watched, nor would watch again, if Ms. Zeta-Jones wasn't in them... #3: Blue Juice).
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 14th, the movies in wide release are Just Wright, Letters to Juliet, and Robin Hood.
| Just Wright | Letters to Juliet | Robin Hood | Winner
(1 point per category)
|
| Clearest Title | I don't know what this movie is going to be about, nor why they combined the spellings of "right" and "write." | Movies that contain the word "letters" almost always are romantic movies. Same goes for the word "Juliet." | I've heard of Robin Hood before! Questions still remain: Will this Robin Hood sing? Will he be a fox? | Letters to Juliet and Robin Hood split the point for the movie with the clearest title. |
Best Genre
and Rating | Romantic Comedy
Rated PG for some suggestive material and brief language.
| Romance
Rated PG for brief rude behavior, some language, and incidental smoking.
| Drama/Action
Rated PG-13 for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some sexual content.
| I do approve of movies that are rated PG, but Robin Hood will get the point for being the only movie without a romantic genre. |
Cleverest Tagline
(out of 5 stars) | "In this game, every shot counts"
Pretty clever since the movie is about basketball AND falling in love.
3/5 stars
| "What if you had a second chance to find true love?"
Not really clever, but a perfect tagline for a romantic movie.
1/5 stars
| "N/A"
WHAT??? First Iron Man 2, now Robin Hood isn't sporting a tagline. Shame.
| "This Robin Hood isn't a fox and he doesn't wear tights. He just kicks butt, Gladiator style."
That's the tagline the studio wished it had. Point for Just Wright.
|
| Best Part of Trailer | Queen Latifah can make the romantic comedy seem cool. Movie seemed cute. | The old people falling in love (not the young people). | An epic war movie about Robin Hood. And Maid Marion seems to kick some butt too. | You win a point in this round if the trailer changes your negative opinion about a movie, which is why the awesome Robin Hood needs to share this point with Just Wright. |
| Coolest Lead Actor | Queen Latifah. You may have her album "All Hail the Queen," and have seen her in Chicago and Bringing Down the House. | Amanda Seyfried. You may have seen her in Mamma Mia! and have seen her in Dear John. | Russell Crowe. You may have seen him in Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. | Queen Latifah is the epitome of cool. She's a rapper with an Academy Award nomination. And she was in Chicago. |
| Best Cast Member | Common. He's also a rapper who has shown awesome acting chops in Wanted, Terminator Salvation, and Date Night. | Gael Garcia Bernal is an awesome actor. You should check out his movies: Y tu mama tambien, The Motorcycle Diaries, and Babel. | Cate Blanchett has been nominated for five Academy Awards and has played Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. | This is a very close race, but Cate Blanchett can do no wrong in my book. Point for her. |
Best Street Cred
For the Production | Writer Michael Elliot also wrote the movies Like Mike and Brown Sugar, which also starred Queen Latifah. | Director Gary Winick has also directed Bride Wars, 13 going on 30, and Charlotte's Web. | Director Ridley Scott has also directed American Gangster, Gladiator, and Alien. | Plus Mr. Scott directed Thelma and Louise, Hannibal, and Black Hawk Down. He easily wins this point. |
So out of a maximum of 7 points per movie, Robin Hood scores 4 points, Just Wright scores 2 1/2 points, and Letters to Juliet scores a half point.
You may interpret this column for your own movie preferences. For example, if you've never seen Gladiator but have seen the movie Dear John, please watch Letters to Juliet. 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, Gladiator II, I mean Robin Hood, is the movie to watch this weekend.
Conclusion 2: As I typed these names, I wondered if the people who knew who "Galadriel" was, have ever heard of "Common," and vice versa.
Conclusion 3: Oh, and the spelling of "Wright" in the title is because Wright is Queen Latifah's character's last name, which makes the title a cute pun, because "just right" is a saying, and she is just going to be herself and fall in love with the man of her dreams. Adorable.
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