Here’s a look at this week’s new movies, half of which have ties to Las Vegas:
Entertainment Columns
“22 Jump Street” is a bit of a mixed bag, but some of the movie’s biggest laughs come from Jillian Bell, who’s a breath of hilariously hostile air as she riffs, improv-style, about old Jonah Hill’s undercover cop looks.
“22 Jump Street” doesn’t exactly break the fourth wall. It runs headfirst into the fourth wall, falls down, sees those little cartoon birds circle its head. And the plot isn’t just thin, it’s borderline anorexic.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the new movies hitting theaters this week, including Jonah Hill’s “22 Jump Street” and Jonah Hill’s “How to Train Your Dragon 2.”
For his fans, “Edge of Tomorrow” offers enough of the old Tom Cruise standbys: a motorcycle scene, romance, etc. — while showcasing a rarely seen side of the actor.
Here’s a quick peek at the new movies hitting theaters this week.
Pity the old-timer who, after seeing the posters and only half-watching the commercials, buys a ticket for “A Million Ways to Die in the West” without even a passing awareness of its co-writer, director and star, Seth MacFarlane. The poor guy may never leave his Barcalounger again.
The Disney movie turns the tables on the studio’s 1959 animated classic — and undoes most of what you know and love about it — with this wildly revisionist live-action tale that creates a backstory for its most popular villain.
Now that’s how you make a summer blockbuster! There’s more sheer tonnage of awesomeness in the first 10 minutes of “X-Men: Days of Future Past” than in the entirety of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.”
Opponents of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository may have their most convincing argument yet: “Godzilla.”
Every few years, something so jarring, so very traumatizing occurs that it shakes a wide swath of America to its very core. It happens whenever we’re forced to begrudgingly respect some formerly eyeroll-inducing piece of teen-friendly man candy. Now, it’s Zac Efron’s turn.
For a movie about three intelligent women — well, two intelligent women and an amiable assemblage of curves played by model Kate Upton — “The Other Woman” is disappointingly, disturbingly dumb.
Jude Law is barely recognizable as the magnificently bearded title character — picture Fisher Stevens replacing Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” — a paunchy, bellowing, red-faced embodiment of hypertension.
It’s hard to quantify “Transcendence” as a success. It’s a good popcorn movie, but it’s never as smart as it needs to be.
Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman star in what is not a remake the 1996 Coen brothers’ classic, but worthy to be called the second truly must-see new series of 2014.
