The 7 Word Weekend Review: Cats & Dogs, Schmucks, and fun with funerals

New Movie Releases Reviewed in 7 Words Each

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore - Get it? Kitty's another word for pussy.

Charlie St. Cloud - The wrong brother done got himself killed.

Dinner for Schmucks - I can only assume hilarity will ensue.

The Extra Man (limited) - I always forget Kevin Kline's still alive.

Get Low (limited) - And you said funerals can't be funny.

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel (limited) - Don't need seven words to ask 'Why?'

I guess the question on everyone's mind has to be: is Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore the sequel we've all been waiting 9 years for? No, that's not a typo. Some brilliant brain trust decided that after 9 years of no one caring about the original, that it was time for a sequel. Now to be fair I did mildly enjoy the first Cats & Dogs movie. At least, I think I did, I was a much younger person with lower standards at the time. Sequels like this always leave me wondering who they're targeting. I guess parents who might say 'I remember that film' and then take their kids to it. Other than a dvd that's probably covered in dust, does the brand name really have that much appeal? I'm not questioning making a movie about secret agent animals, I just don't know why you need to tap into some 'brand name' to do it.

Despite how the 7 word review may have come off, I don't inherently hate Zac Efron (I was actually just riffing on a line from Walk Hard). I kind of liked 17 Again, in that, generic teen ripoff sort of way. Movies like Charlie St. Cloud always annoy me. They're bound to be cloyingly sweet for the sake of being sweet. Also, I don't understand how it works out, but this is exactly the kind of movie I'll end up seeing. I don't want to, but it'll just happen. 

I do want to see Dinner for Schmucks. It looks funny and I'm a fan of Paul Rudd. I am aware that this is the kind of movie that could completely be a misfire and end up being little more than a couple of decent gags strung together but there's a lot of good word on it and I'm an optimist. That said, for me the winner this is Get Low which has a limited release this weekend.

Get Low stars Robert Duval and Bill Murray in the true story of a Tennessee backwoods hermit (Duval) who, having reached old age, decides to plan his funeral. Bill Murray plays the undertaker who along with his sidekick (Lucas Black) help to organize the lavish affair. I love quirky stories like this and the fact that it's based on a real event just makes it all the better.

A couple nights ago I finally caved in and watched Terminator Salvation. My eyes were healing (I'll explain that one next week) and it seemed like something I could lay there and watch. I was actually surprised to find that I enjoyed it. The story was far from perfect and I understand all the problems people had with it, but I also thought the action was fantastic and despite how many will try to argue, that's really all the movies have ever been about. Granted the first couple of films gave you characters to care about, but the story was pretty generic sci-fi (absolutely no apologies to Harlan Ellison whose story it was 'based on' sucked hard).

I used to love Christian Bale but he really is hit and miss anymore and in this film he's easily the most forgetable. The role of John Connor is rather uninteresting and for some reason he's doing his stupid Batman voice half the time. On the flip, Sam Worthington's character, Marcus Wright, should have had more screen time. He's a character that had a lot of possibility. Also, I believe I've made it clear a couple times before that I quite enjoy Anton Yelchin. He's great here as Kyle Reese and I would loved to have seen a movie that was more about him and Marcus on the road. Still, as I said, the movie is about the action and that's done exceptionally well. If you've been holding out on it and feel like staying in this weekend with a popcorn flick, I recommend Terminator Salvation. 6.5 out of 10

That's it for me this week. Have a great weekend everyone!