Everyone waits until the year is over to compile their “Best of whatever” movie lists. This has become a mundane practice. Time for a bit of a change, kids.
Performing at a satisfactory level in the arena of cinema these days is not an easy task. And third installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise proves that notion. This team (filmmakers involved) really had an off-game; as in terrible. Meanwhile, a product that truly didn’t need to be on the court so to speak, actually should some grit and performed admirably.
The new releases for the respective week will have a capsule review at the end of the column. An updated list comes out every Monday. Here’s how things are shaking up so far in 2012:
1. Chronicle
2. The Dark Knight Rises
3. The Cabin in the Woods
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. The Avengers
6. Red Tails
7. The Grey
8. Game Change
9. The Secret World of Arrietty
10. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
11. Friends with Kids
12. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
13. The Raid: Redemption
14. Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds
15. Big Miracle
16. Think Like a Man
17. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
18. Brake
19. Rock of Ages
20. HeadHunters
21. Hemingway and Gellhorn
22. Mirror Mirror
23. People Like Us
24. Magic Mike
25. Total Recall (2012)
26. Ted
27. 21 Jump Street
28. Snow White and the Huntsman
29. This Means War
30. God Bless America
31. The Three Stooges
32. Gone
33. The Amazing Spider-Man
34. Blue Like Jazz
35. American Reunion
36. Jeff, Who Lives at Home
37. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
38. Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best
39. Katy Perry: Part of Me
40. Ice Age: Continental Drift
41. Juan of the Dead
42. Prometheus
43. Hysteria
44. The Dictator
45. Safe
46. Searching for Sonny
47. Brave
48. The Hunger Games
49. John Carter
50. Wrath of the Titans
51. Dead Dad
52. Underworld: Awakening
53. The Devil Inside
54. Livid
55. The Five-Year Engagement
56. Downtown Express
57. Savages
58. Sound of My Voice
59. Project X
60. Men in Black 3
61. Piranha 3DD
62. Dark Shadows
63. The Raven
64. [Rec] 3 Genesis
65. Silent House
66. That’s My Boy
67. Darling Companion
68. Bully
69. The Watch
70. What to Expect When You’re Expecting
71. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
72. Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding
73. Lockout
74. The Woman in Black
75. The Vow
76. Man on a Ledge
77. Step Up Revolution
78. Extraterrestrial
79. The Lucky One
80. Contraband
81. The Samaritan
82. Act of Valor
83. 4:44 Last Day on Earth
84. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
85. Safe House
86. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
87. To Rome with Love
88. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
89. The Pirates! Band of Misfits
90. Kill List
91. Chernobyl Diaries
92. Haywire
93. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection
94. A Thousand Words
95. Joyful Noise
96. Battleship
97. Wanderlust
Not Screened: One for the Money, Casa De Mi Padre, Chimpanzee, High School, Beasts of the Southern Wild
REVIEWS (click on title for full write-up)
If one needs comparisons from cinema’s past, there’s a dose of Minority Report, I Robot (mainly because of the synthetic robot army representing the wealthy) , Inception, The Matrix and perhaps even a little Tron. As one watches the puzzle come together – and this is one of those 400-500 piece sets; not the 1000 piece mind-crampers – it actually all clicks and moves along in a smooth manner. So is it bad that you will actually comprehend just about everything that is going on?
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
This flick gives credence to the statement that once you grow up, you could grow old. And the latter part of that sentence is what the third installment in the Wimpy Kid franchise ends up feeling like: played out. Clocking in at 94 minutes, this felt as if it took a whole summer to get through. Flashes of what made the two installments worthwhile are present, yet they barely flicker. So if you didn’t get the franchise reference in the headline, this is a steamy bag of ____ (hey, it is a kid’s movie).
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