As I said in the previous review, I've grown to trust Kenneth Turan's reviews. This volume is called Now in Theaters Everywhere. A Celebration of a Different Kind of Blockbuster.
Unlike his previous foray into book-collected reviews, Now in Theaters Everywhere is not intended to introduce unknown movies to its readers. With listings for movies ranging from Absolute Power to Training Day, American Pie to There's Something About Mary, this book is not about the movies you haven't heard of.
This book is about the movies you have heard of. Turan points out that there is a perception that Hollywood derived movies are all crap, that there is no difference between Mystic River and Pearl Harbor. And that's just plain wrong.
As Turan says "Although it may not be fashionable to do so, these films need to be celebrated...the best of the lot are tremendously entertaining."
And so he celebrates the blockbusters and big Hollywood movies which are worth your time and rental money. He doesn't softpedal the weaknesses of the movie.
I don't quite agree with all of his picks--The Mummy Returns, for example, although my hostility to it was lessened after a re-viewing in light of reading his review of it.
Still, this book is useful for picking out big Hollywood movies which you have skipped and are having second thoughts about checking out. This book gave me some of the impetus to try Mr and Mrs Smith, Kingdom of Heaven, Chicken Run, Million Dollar Baby, and undoubtedly, more in the future.
And like his previous book, Turan's style is easy to digest but intelligent all the same and I recommend the book like the previous one as a good guide to finding movies to rent.
Posted by Jvstin at January 12, 2008 7:35 PM