1. The Watch (Fox, 3,168 Theaters, 98 Minutes, Rated R): On paper, this film has a lot going for it. It’s Ben Stiller reunited with Vince Vaughn for the first time since Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. This film was co-written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg of Superbad and Pineapple Express fame. It’s directed by Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer. And it should be the first widespread exposure America get of talented British comedian Richard Ayoade (The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd).
However, Stiller and Vaughn seems to be just doing the same roles they have done in most fo their other movies (Stiller as the uptight and slightly anal man who takes thing much too seriously, Vaughn as the sarcastic man-child who doesn’t take things seriously enough), the plot–a neighborhood watch group uncovers an alien invasion–seems a bit too one-note to build a film around, and the last film Rogen and Goldberg wrote was the incredibly lame The Green Hornet. So, it’s anybody’s guess what kind of film you will be getting.
2. Step Up Revolution (Summit Entertainment, 2,567 Theaters, 99 Minutes, Rated PG-13): So, it appears that they are still making Step Up films. And why not? They are the McDonalds of the film world–made cheaply (no -name actors are a must), the quality is bad (hackneyed plots are the rule) yet enchantingly tasty (there’s a lot of flashy dancing and attractive people wearing tight clothing to ogle) , and you forget the experience hours after you leave the building (I defy you to quote me the plot of any Step Up movie without getting it mixed up with the plot of another Step Up movie).
This year’s version focuses on Emily, a girl who loves to dance who relocates to Miami. While there, she falls in with a group of flash mob dancers and falls in love with their leader, Sean. The group is ready to combat a land developer who is looking to raze a historic district to modernize it. In a stunning plot complication, the developer just happens to be Emily’s dad.
Now, Sean and his friends have to fight back the only way they know how–with intricately choreographed dance routines that seem impromptu but are not and Emily has to decide where she stands–with the man who loves her, provided for her, and brought her up, or that cute guy who dances she just met.
