1. The Host (Open Road Films, 3,202 Theaters, 125 Minutes, Rated PG-13): If you were thinking, or, rather, hoping that Stephenie Meyer was a one-trick pony, well, think, or, rather, hope again. Because the master of the vampire/werewolf love triangle also wrote a romance about space aliens! And since Twilight did so well at the box office, they decided to make a film out of this book too!
The book and the movie detail an Earth overtaken by a race of body snatching aliens. One of these aliens takes over a woman named Melanie, Melanie resists. The two enter a psychic battle for control of Melanie’s body, complicated when they both fall in love with the same man–twice. No, not one man two times, both Melanie and her alien infiltrator gain feelings for a man named Ian and a man named Jared… oh, hell. I can’t even bother to continue.
If you haven’t guessed, I’m not a big Meyer fan. But there are a lot of them out there.It is unlikely this will do Twilight numbers, but it could do quite well.
2. Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (Lionsgate, 2,047 Theaters, 111 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Suffice it to say, I am not a Tyler Perry fan either. I do admire the way he followed his dream to the big screen and the way he found his audience. But I am not his target audience and even if I was,his films seem a bit flimsy and shallow to me. Yet they are presented like they are weighty pieces of art. Not for me.
Take this one, for example. It’s about a marriage counselor who decides to cheat on her husband with her client. On the surface, that seems like ready-made drama. But, really? A trained professional willing to forgo her ethics in such a grand fashion? Because her husband watches TV instead of paying attention to her? Eh, doesn’t ring true to me.
Needless to say, as the affair goes on, it takes a nasty turn that will change the counselor’s life forever.
And if that is not bad enough, we have that legendary thespian, Dame Kim Kardashian in a supporting role. Granted, it appears to be a best friend/co-worker type of part, so it’s not like she’s going to have to do any heavy lifting. But, seriously? If you’re casting Kim Kardashian in your drama, you are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
