1. Planes: Fire & Rescue: (Disney, 3, 826 Theaters, 83 Minutes, Rated PG for action and some peril): So, I would have never bet that Cars, the most lackluster movie in the Pixar catalog, would get a sequel. It did. I never thought that it would get a spin-off. It did. I never thought the spin-off would do enough to earn a sequel. It did, and here we are.
This one follows Dusty (Dane Cook) as he retires from the world of competitive racing to enter a more relaxing field, the life of a wildfire attack plane. In the process, he learns what it means to be a true hero..
The film is getting better reviews than its predecessor, but, then again, it’s hard for it not to. And considering the competition it is up against, it might just be your best bet this week.
2. Sex Tape (Sony/Columbia, 3,062 Theaters, 94 Minutes, Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use): Jay (Jason Segel) and Annie (Cameron Diaz) have decided punch up a lackluster sex life by making a sex tape. The friskiness leads to a marathon love making session, but when the video is uploaded to the cloud and sent to all their family and friends, the pair have to track down every copy of it before it becomes and issue.
The concept is pretty implausible. I mean, I don’t know much about the cloud, but I figure that it doesn’t really have a mind of its own and you control what goes on it or not. It doesn’t upload things automatically.
The trailer had a few good moments, but the film itself is being savaged by critics. So it will be interesting to see if this film can recapture the magic Diaz, Segel and director Jake Kasdan had with their hit, Bad Teacher.
3. The Purge: Anarchy (Universal, 2,805 Theaters, 103 Minutes, Rated R for strong disturbing violence, and for language): Since we are talking about implausible concepts….
The first film, centered on a night when any crime whatsoever if legal for 12 hours for one day a year, focused on a family trying to defend their heavily fortified house from intruders that are out to kill them. The sequel flips the switch a bit and shows us five people trying to survive on the streets of Los Angeles as the Purge is going on.
The original made $89 million worldwide against a $3 million budget. This one’s budget is only $9 million. So, it doesn’t really have to do all that good at the box office for us to get a third one.
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