This Weekend, Watch This
A comparison of the new releases for July 16, 2010
By Curt David
July 16, 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, Patriot Games, The Crying Game, and Gamer 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 10: Actresses I have crushed on... #5: Lena Olin from Alias).
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 July 16th, the movies in wide release are Inception and The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
| Inception | The Sorcerer's Apprentice | WINNER
(1 point per category)
|
| Clearest Title | Inception means a start, a beginning, or the act of graduating at a British university. I don't know what this film is about. | I think this title reminds me of the time that Mickey Mouse was dealing with all those brooms. | The Sorcerer's Apprentice sounds familiar, so it wins round 1. |
Best Genre
and Rating | Sci-Fi/Thriller
Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout
| Fantasy/Adventure
Rated PG for fantasy action violence, some mild rude humor, and brief language.
| Aren't almost all sci-fi movies thrillers? And almost all fantasy movies adventure? Predictable genres make each movie split the point. |
Cleverest Tagline
(out of 5 stars) | "Your mind is on the scene of the crime"
I think this might be clever, cause the movie is about going into people's minds
2/5 stars
| "N/A"
Come on Disney! Throw me a frickin' bone. Where's the tagline?
0/5 stars
| Inception wins the point for the best, and only, tagline.
|
| Best Part of Trailer | The Matrix-like dream world seems like it'd be interesting to be a part of for two hours. | Being a sorcerer to fight evil also seems fun to be a part of for two hours (and the broom scene was in the trailer!) | This is the third week in a row both movies split the point for Best Trailer. What can I say? The trailers looked good the past three weeks. |
| Coolest Lead Actor | Leonardo DiCaprio from Growing Pains, Titanic, Catch Me if you Can, The Departed, and Shutter Island. | Nicolas Cage from The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off, and National Treasure. | Despite Leonardo DiCaprio being a solid actor, Nicolas Cage will win this round for his entertaining movies. |
| Best Cast Member | Ellen Page from Juno and X-men 3. | Jay Baruchel from She's Out of My League and the voice of Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon. | I may never grow tired of giving Ellen Page a point because she was in Juno. Point for her. |
Best Street Cred
For the Production | Director and Writer Christopher Nolan also directed and wrote Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Prestige. | Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has also produced CSI, National Treasure, the Pirates' movies, Remember the Titans, Con Air, The Rock, Top Gun, and Beverly Hills Cop. | You had me at The Dark Knight. Point for Christopher Nolan. |
So out of a maximum of 7 points per movie, Inception scores 4 points and The Sorcerer's Apprentice scores 3 points.
You may interpret this column for your own movie preferences. For example, if you've seen Knowing or Kick-Ass this year, you are going to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice 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, Inception is the movie to watch this weekend.
Conclusion 2: Inception has a great supporting cast (Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, and Michael Caine.
Conclusion 3: When I heard that The Sorcerer's Apprentice was a live adaptation of a Disney cartoon, I thought it was of The Sword in the Stone. How awesome would that dueling wizards scene have been in real life?
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