Redbox Mania

I was going to go see 'Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2' in 3D but I ended up sleeping in yesterday morning so I decided to get something from Redbox.  Originally I was going to only get one so naturally I ended up getting three.  What?  I can't pass up a good deal on Redbox....okay I usually can but today I decided why not and went for it.  


'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' (PG-13) **1/4
Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) are Las Vegas magicians who were once successful but their audience is dwindling from a stale show and competition from Steven Gray (Jim Carrey), a Criss Angel/David Blaine type street performer who mostly does stunts involving bodily harm and mutilation.  With Olivia Wilde as Burt and Anton's assistant Jane, Alan Arkin as an aging musician who inspired Burt as a child and the late James Gandolfini as a casino owner.  I chuckled occasionally and laughed out loud once or twice, but most of the time it just kinda fell flat and was mostly forgettable despite the talent involved.  If you want to watch a better magician-themed movie this year, go watch 'Now You See Me'. 


'The Kings of Summer' (R) **3/4
The main movie that I actually was going to rent, but then also rented 'Burt Wonderstone' and 'Movie 43'.  Friends Joe, Patrick, and Biaggio (Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias), in an act of independence, decide to run away and spend their summer living in a house that they built in the woods and live off the land.  The only actor that I could recognize in this movie was Nick Offerman as Joe's dad, but you don't need big celebrities to make a good movie.  Beautifully shot and while it has some funny parts, overall the story is a little uneven, thin, and rushed at times.  Starts off great, but certain events during the second act made my attention wander and made me not like the characters that we're supposed to root for.  It's a solid rental.  Better than the 'Burt Wonderstone' and 'Movie 43' that's for sure.


'Movie 43' (R) **
Now this has been called not only one of the worst movies of the year, but one of the worst movies of all time.  A whopping '19' on Metacritic's scale (signifying "Overwhelming dislike) and a solid 4% on Rotten Tomatoes.  So of course I had to check this out for myself.  This movie's plot comprises of a series of skits from movie pitches that desperate writer Charlie (Dennis Quaid) is giving to movie executive Griffin Schraeder (Greg Kinnear).  This features a huge ensemble cast that also includes Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone, Richard Gere, Kate Bosworth, Jack McBrayer, Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Kristen Bell, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Patrick Warburton, Johnny Knoxville, Gerard Butler, Seann William Scott, Halle Berry, Terrence Howard, Elizabeth Banks, Seth MacFarlane and Josh Duhamel.  It's shocking, strange, raunchy, obscene, foul-mouthed, bizarre, crude, but not very funny.  I chuckled maybe once or twice.  Most of the time I was just kinda staring blankly at my TV.  Now is it one of the worst movies I've ever seen?  No.  Is it the worst movie I've seen this year?  No.  'Scary Movie 5'  far worse, as well as the first half of 'Insidious Chapter 2'.