Screen Gems

As the T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into flesh eating zombies, Alice (Milla Jovovich) fights alongside the resistance while unveiling more of her mysterious past. The chase for those responsible for the outbreak takes her from Tokyo to the States to Moscow culminating in a revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true.

Linda Barnard of The Toronto Star writes, “It’s all about the thrill of the kill, and Resident Evil: Retribution doesn’t disappoint in that department. Writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson knows that this is a franchise that works, so why tinker? He stuffs 100 pounds of gore into a five-pound sack and keeps jamming it in. Not content to stick with simple impalements and jetting arcs of blood, Anderson ups the ante with x-rays that show bones breaking and hearts being ripped from arteries as the blows land.”

HSX and FilmGo both forecast that Resident Evil: Retribution will earn around $26M-$27M this weekend though I’d like to point out that through out the course of the franchise, each sequel has done better than the movie preceding it. Afterlife, the fourth and most recent in the series, opened at $26.6M, but Retribution is being shown in fewer theaters. I predict that the movie will open in excess of estimates but shy of the $30M mark.

Rating: R // Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi // Runtime: 1 hr. 35 min. // Starring: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory and Michelle Rodriguez // Directed and Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson// Produced by: Davis Films/Impact Pictures (RE5) and Constantin Film International // Distributed by: Screen Gems

The Lucky One
When the movie starts, we find U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Zac Efron) pausing while on patrol in the desert to pick up a photograph of a woman he doesn’t even know lying in the rubble. Moments later, a bomb detonates on the spot where he would otherwise have been standing. Crediting the pretty blonde in the picture with saving his life, he vows to track down his guardian angel to thank her upon his return to the States.

Learning her name is Beth (Taylor Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm.

James Berardinelli of Reelz Views says, “The Lucky One delivers what’s expected from it: a heartfelt romantic melodrama with attractive actors in the lead roles; gauzy, moody photography; a saccharine score; and all the heat that a PG-13 production can muster.”

Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 1 hr. 41 min.
Starring: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner
Directed by: Scott Hicks
Written by: Will Fetters and Nicholas Sparks
Produced and Distributed By: Warner Bros. Pictures

Think Like a Man
Based on Steve Harvey’s best-selling book, Think Like a Man follows four men whose love lives are shaken up after the ladies they are pursuing buy Harvey’s book that instructs women to kick their relationships up a notch by spilling a few secrets regarding how guys really feel about stuff like intimacy and commitment.

When the band of brothers realize they have been betrayed by one of their own, they conspire using the book’s insider information to turn the tables and teach the women a lesson of their own.

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle says, “Director Tim Story finds a tone that supports the big laughs and the tender moments. He does his job, keeping the audience laughing – and caring – from start to finish.”

Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 2 hr. 2 min.
Starring: Chris Brown, Gabrielle Union and Kevin Hart
Directed by: Tim Story
Written by: Steve Harvey, Keith Merryman and David A. Newman
Produced and Distributed By: Screen Gems

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Resident Evil: Retribution

The Lucky One and Think Like a Man