What to Watch this Weekend: The Croods vs. Olympus Has Fallen
It can be tough deciding what movie to watch. That’s where I come in. To help lead you through the cinematic landscape to hopefully avoid the duds and misfires that can soil ones love for the theater going experience. In this series, I will take the trailers for what I assume will be the top 2 highest-grossing new releases, dissect their trailers, and then summarize who I think should see which movie. I’m not here to say which one will be better. I’m here to help you decide which will be better for you.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XFu0sHFAvo’]
Notable Actors: Emma Stone, Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke
Director: Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders
00:01
It’s nice to see another female protagonist in an animated feature and it’s good that she’s tomboyish. Can cave-women be described as tomboyish?
00:22
The moral of this movie is now obvious. Be an individual. Explore the world. Live your life. All that crap.
00:52
Or maybe it’s about them all jumping to their deaths? There really is no way they could survive that fall right? I’m sure they’ll get caught up in a bunch of tree limbs and branches that break their fall just enough.
00:56
Cue the scenes that will look good in 3D. DreamWorks did a solid job with 3D for How to Train Your Dragon, so it’s conceivable it will look good here as well.
01:05
Nicolas Cage probably demanded that this scene be done in motion capture so he could do his patented freak out. I love them all by the way.
01:14
And you thought YOUR mother-in-law was bad! I am not looking forward to this running gag. We’ve already had two of them in this trailer alone.
01:17
Cue the hunky homosapien and his prehistoric sloth belt. Sloth belt has definite potential to be funny character in the style of Abu from Aladdin.
01:54
Girls like shoes.
01:58
Sorry. Girls LOVE shoes.
02:03
Fireworks in prehistoric times? I can’t wait to see the shenanigans that lead to this implausibility.
02:12
Land animal with a blowhole for some reason. I will allow it under the assumption that the species hadn’t evolved out of this yet.
02:21
Fire jokes were inevitable with caveman protagonists. This gag made me laugh.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwx1f0kyNwI’]
Notable Actors: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott
Director: Antoine Fuqua
00:09
At least this Gerard Butler feature isn’t a rom-com.
00:15
Is the “full package” a reference to the first lady’s heaving bosom?
00:33
The full package has fallen…
00:35
Action movie where the star can’t forgive himself for not being able to do something impossible. I imagine we will see many shots of him starring forlornly off into the distance as he remembers that fateful snowy day on the bridge.
00:56
“Sir, no one noticed a giant airplane flying absurdly close to the ground until it was 100 feet away from the White House.”
01:22
Morgan Freeman sneaks his way into being “acting” President for a movie. Nicely done.
01:35
Good thing the only hope they have left is a bad ass and not some lame intern.
01:55
“With all due respect, I’m the best hope you got.” It just wouldn’t have been a mediocre action movie without that line.
02:23
A lot of planes crashing into American buildings and monuments. Is post 9/11 America ready for the CGI carnage?!
Both movies are loaded with talented actors and the credibility of past successes from the filmmakers, How to Train Your Dragon and Training Day. The Croods has come a long way since it’s first trailer and looks like a worthy animation film. I doubt it will end up being one of the best of the year, but it looks good enough for a few laughs. Olympus Has Fallen appears to be the typical action movie we’ve come to expect Hollywood to churn out a few times a year. It doesn’t look awful, but I didn’t think the new Die Hard trailer looked awful either and look how that turned out. Unless the trailer piqued your interest, you can probably avoid it.
Who Should See The Croods
- If for whatever reason you find yourself needing to entertain a child.
- You want to get a head start on watching all the Oscar nominees for 2013. Nearly every animation movie that’s above average is a lock for a nomination. There also might be an original song in this somewhere.
- Those who want to help Nicolas Cage get out of debt so he can go back to doing the movies that made him great in the first place and not have to worry about how much money it gets him.
Who Should See Olympus Has Fallen
- Boys between the ages of 13-18 that don’t care about college basketball.
- Guys who want to punish their girlfriends for making them watch Safe Haven earlier in the year.
