Rated - PG-13
Stars: Chloe Grace Moretz, Jaime Blackley
Plot: A girl in a coma has an out of body experience that allows her to decide whether to die or to live a life completely different than the one she had planned.
Trailer
Clint Says: It's worth renting once
Chloe Grace Moretz has become one of the premiere go-to girls in Hollywood, and rightfully so. She pulls off a wonderful performance in this young love tale.
This is a dark film, but it is also filled with hope and inspiration. The director does a very good job of keeping the film from being overly sappy or overly depressing. And the back and forth between past and present works really well in this film.
If you liked THE FAULT IN OUR STARS you will enjoy this movie as well. It's not as good, but it will satisfy your need for a young-love story.
AND SO IT GOES
Rated - PG-13
Stars: Michael Douglas, Diane Keaton
Plot: A curmudgeonly old widower and his singing widow neighbor must learn how to care for a granddaughter he never knew he had.
Trailer
Clint Says: Rent this if you've already seen everything else
This movie is a prime example of why we hear people complaining how Hollywood has lost its creativity, and nothing original comes out of Hollywood anymore. Hollywood has learned that most of their "original" ideas are old, dried up and a waste of time.
While this film has a few laughs and a few warm, fuzzy moments, overall it is a slow, boring tale. Douglas and Keaton spend most of the movie just going through the motions. And the plot is so ridiculously predictable and stereotypical that most in the audience will spend a large part of the movie rolling their eyes.
Watching this felt a bit like watching a superstar athlete trying to keep up after he is well past his prime in a league that has passed him by. It's sad in a way to see the likes of Rob Reiner, Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton trying to remain relevant in an industry that has moved away from their style of movies.
If you really want to see these actors in something good this weekend rent some of their better works. You'll be happier for it, and it will save you from wasting your money and your time.
INTO THE STORM
Rated - PG-13
Stars: Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh
Plot: A massive outbreak of tornadoes has people running for their lives.
Trailer
Clint Says: Let someone else rent the DVD and make plans to leave early
This is nothing more than an overdone, crappy version of TWISTER. The Director starts this film out using the "found footage" technique where all of the video the audience sees is shot by the characters in the movie, but about halfway through the film he starts using interspersed shots from an outside perspective. It felt like there were scenes that they really wanted in the movie, but couldn't figure out a way to have a character shoot it so they took the lazy way out and hoped the audience wouldn't notice.
There is one very compelling scene in the film where you actually feel for the two people that are about to die, but that covers about four minutes of the film. The other 100 minutes are eye-rolling stupidity.
I'm sure the planning meeting for this film included a brain-storming session with the title, "Forget About Plot And Continuity, What Cool Things Can A Tornado Destroy?"
Without giving away anything that the trailer didn't already show us, my favorite eye-rolling scene is when the massive, climactic uber-tornado hits the small-town airport and takes out a half-dozen 747's. Apparently, Silverton, Oklahoma is a major international hub.
The special effects are well done, but that alone is not worth the price of admission.
