The biggest critical hit among the biggest releases last week was Percy Jackson and the Something Harry Potter, which drew a mediocre 50% from Rottentomatoes.
This week things look a bit brighter, but not as much as you’d expect, with Shutter Island drawing a not really that much better (so far) 65%. That’s enough to earn a good tomatoes from the site, but only just. (It doesn’t even do quite that well at Metacritic, which weights their reviews, earning just 63% over there.)
This from a film that had about as impressive a pedigree as you’re going to see these days. It was directed by Martin Scorsese, stars Leonardo DiCaprio (have to admit, not the biggest fan), and taken from a book by Dennis Lehane, from whose Clint Eastwood made Mystic river (an 88% at RT), and Ben Affleck made Gone Baby Gone (94%). That’s right, Affleck even beat Eastwood, America’s one great director these days, but killed Scorsese. And let’s admit it, Scorsese had a LOT more resources at his disposal.
Drawing rather better reviews is Ghost Writer, a political thriller starring Pierce Brosnan and Ewan MacGregor. Of course, you also have to get past the fact that it was made by a child rapist. I’m kind of a stickler on that sort of thing, which is why I’ve never watched one of the Jeeper Creepers movies either.
Anyway, those are the big films this weekend, so expect the stuff from last weekend to carry over fairly well. The big question for me is whether Valentine’s Day will carry on at number one, considering the title itself dated the movie to last weekend.
Consider this an open thread for anyone who sees a movie in a theater this weekend and wants to comment on it.
