Orlando Lens
By Nicholas Ware
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There's four new releases coming Orlando's way this weekend (well, three "new" and one return of a Florida Film Festival film), and the Daily City has you covered with a quick guide to your box office offerings.
R - Comedy - Starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy - Directed by Paul Feig - Playing at most major multiplexes
Rotten Tomatoes % as of writing: 69%
Paul Feig, last seen helming lady-centric ultra-funny Bridesmaids, returns with another lady-centric, possibly-ultra-funny buddy cop comedy with by-the-book Bullock's FBI agent teaming with stark-raving-mad McCarthy's Boston cop. I'm sure there's some evil drug lord or corporate criminal mastermind they're chasing, but the plot's not the thing in a movie like this, the laughs are. So far, summer has only delivered one good comedy (This Is The End), so hopefully this exercise in gussying up an old-hat genre will hit all the right notes. The trailer actually has me excited, which rarely is the case these days. I'll be going opening week.
PG-13 - Action - Starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx - Directed by Roland Emmerich - Playing at most major multiplexes
Rotten Tomatoes % as of writing: 50%
Samm Levine, Freaks & Geeks actor who does not appear in this film, tweeted this review a few days ago: "If you're looking for Die Hard meets The Rock meets Lincoln, look no further than White House Down." If that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is. Coming hot on the heels of another White House-based action movie, Olympus Has Fallen, White House Down has the advantage of the veteran hand of Independence Day director Roland Emmerich (who knows about blowing up White Houses) and an at-the-height-of-his-powers Channing Tatum who has made some many right moves that the ladies and the fellas love him in equal measure (plus he's dreamy). I'll probably wait for DVD/Blu for this one, but if you like big dumb action this looks big and dumb and actiony.
PG-13 - Documentary - Starring Darlene Love and Merry Clayton - Directed by Morgan Neville - Playing at the Regal Winter Park Village 20
Rotten Tomatoes % as of writing: 97%
If you didn't get a chance to catch this stellar documentary at the Florida Film Festival (and you likely didn't since there was only one screening and it sold out), it's come back around. Universally praised and a must-see for any music fan, it profiles the lives of some of the most important back-up singers in pop music history including Florida Film Festival attendee Merry Clayton, who sang the iconic chorus on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter." Plus you get to see big rock stars give praise to the little people, which can be gratifying. If I had a pick of the week (I don't), this would be it.
PG - Drama - Starring Hadas Yaron - Directed by Yigal Bursztayn - Playing at the Regal Winter Park Village 20
Rotten Tomatoes % as of writing: 83%
I don't know much at all about this Israeli film about an Orthodox Jewish family in Tel Aviv, but it's gotten mostly positive reviews and seems to be a solid family drama from the looks of things. The plot hinges on an 18-year-old girl, Shira, who is pressured by her family to marry the husband of her deceased sister when the sister dies in childbirth. That's a pretty strong hook, and the trailer makes the film look suitably weighty if a touch melodramatic.
Feel free to give your own pick of the week (if you had one, which you don't) in the comments! Even if it's a film that's not a new release!
