Super Bowl Sunday. The greatest day of the year. The beer’s on ice, the appetizers are in the oven, I’ve got my requisite prop bets in on things like “first touchdown” and “how much karaoke Beyonce will do at halftime.” Going to be a great day, but before we get to that there’s a couple of flicks to check out. We’re looking at the side effects of identity thieves.
Just remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, but rather predicting where they'll end up on the Tomatometer. Let's take a look at what This Rotten Week has to offer.
Side Effects
Movie characters look for pharmacological support for a number of different reasons. Eddie Morra needed a little (significant) brainpower boost. Alice and Neo wanted to distance themselves from reality (or actually figure out reality, or something with reality, I don’t know it gets confusing). Largeman felt a little peer pressure. Alan thought he could give his wolfpack an
[[ http www.youtube.com ]] epic night out. There are others too. Everyone just wants to take a magic little pill that’ll make all of their troubles go away.
And in Side Effects pills might just be the reason Rooney Mara offed some guy in her apartment. Isn’t that a bitch? Go to a shrink (Jude Law) to sort things out because your husband (Channing Tatum) is getting out of the clink and the next you know some dude’s laying dead in your apartment. Who’s to blame? Blame the drugs man, blame the drugs.
Steven Soderbergh’s latest is a psychological thriller that’s hit the critical ground running with Katey and crew discussing it on their most recent podcast. Coming off Haywire (80%) and Magic Mike (80%) Soderbergh continues to prove he’s among the best in the business, flipping between genres and rarely doing the same thing twice. Too bad he’s going to take a break. A shame as he rarely whiffs on a flick. The newest one will fall right in line with his recent (career) resume of quality. The Rotten Watch for Side Effects is 78%
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[[ http www.youtube.com ]] Identity Thief
If someone ever steals my identity (which is probably inevitable considering how cavalierly I throw personal information around, and how rich I am) I just hope they do something super kickass with it like become a mixed martial arts specialist or invent the next Google. Maybe they’d just go all humanitarian and find a solution for world hunger. That’s how identity theft works right? Just a bunch of good people using others’ personal information for the greater good, letting others get the credit.
Well, Melissa McCarthy sure didn’t get that memo because in Identity Thief she uses people’s names and credit card info to buy stuff and let them foot the bill. Kind of goes against an orderly society, but what do I know? I’m a bleeding heart liberal. Jason Bateman, forever the sappy, trampled on, do-gooder sets about tracking her down to take back the only thing any of us really have in this world: his own good name.
Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses-69%, Four Christmases-25%) helms this flick and I must say the trailer got a chuckle or two around the Rotten Offices. Comedies are typically a tough sell with critics, one of the reasons I originally whiffed on my Horrible Bosses prediction. Though I don’t see this movie scoring as high as that movie, I doubt it ends up in the comedic dumpster. Let’s keep it close to the middle, just a shade over the halfway mark. The Rotten Watch for Identity Thief is 52%
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Recapping last week:
A nice week for the Rotten Watch with two prediction wins. Overall, the year has started nicely. First of all Bullet to the Head (Predicted: 38% Actual: 47%) fluctuated during the week eventually falling into range when the last group of reviews came through. Speaking of pills earlier, I’m still looking at you Sly. Now way that body was done au naturale.
Meanwhile, Warm Bodies (Predicted: 67% Actual: 76%) ended up winning with critics and at the box office. Eric Eisenberg enjoyed the “zom-rom-com” in his review. Overall, the year has started nicely with seven of my first eleven predictions within ten percent. We’ll take it!
Next time around we see beautiful creatures, escape from Earth, find a safe haven and die hard (again!). It’s going to be a Rotten Week!
