By Chris Kavan - 07/29/11 at 11:29 AM CT
It's the battle of the craggy stars vs. blue CGI wonders this weekend. Also, don't discount Crazy, Stupid, Love to attract the more romantically-inclined crowd.
1) Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford come together for a stone-faced face-off as they are the cowboys in Cowboys & Aliens. While I have been eagerly looking forward to the genre mashup, I have to admit my expectations have been tempered by a slew of average reviews. It seems in trying to appease audiences of westerns and sci-fi, it falls short on both counts. Still, I have a feeling I will enjoy this, though it remains to be seen if it can be more than a typical summer film. Oh, and there's Olivia Wilde - that helps things too.
2) Even though it's well outside my genre comfort level, I'm still going with Crazy, Stupid, Love if only because the cast looks outstanding. Steve Carrell, Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei all in the same movie! Ensemble casts always have the chance of being hit or miss, but considering the names involved, I'm leaning more towards hit with this one. Even if I don't see it in theaters, it holds enough interest that I will probably watch it eventually.
3) I have a feeling this film is going to do more business, but that just makes me sad, really. From the moment I first heard about The Smurfs, I just had a bad feeling about it. Once again Hollywood was going to strip mine my childhood memories for their gain. Now that I see the final product, and the overwhelmingly negative reviews, I have to say my gut feelings were right. A travesty that I refuse to watch. I want it to do as bad as Mars Needs Moms! but I have a feeling that enough kids will want to see this one to make it come out a little better than that flop. Still, no sequels, for the love of all that is good in this world NO SEQUELS.
4) Finally, for something a bit off the wide-release path you have the British sci-fi/action/comedy hybrid Attack the Block. It has been getting quite a bit of buzz and looks like a lot of fun. I'm sure there will be strange references that only our friends across the pond will really be able to appreciate, but all in all, this looks like a fresh take on the whole "alien attack" genre that has been so prevalent this year.
See you back on Sunday when we'll learn if Cowboys & Aliens can wrangle the box office and just how many people will watch my childhood memories get destroyed right before their eyes.
