Another week, another battle. This time, all three of this post’s featured movies made it to the top five! However, it’s left up to you, the viewing public, to determine if they actually deserve to be in the top.
Secretariat came in at number three on the box office charts, grossing $12,694,770. The critics at Rotten Tomatoes gave it a competent 66%, citing that the film gives you exactly what you expect out of a live-action Disney movie. It delivers on that front, but almost painfully treads no new ground:
“It’s not about a horse, it’s jockey, or it’s trainer. It’s about a horse owner. Instead of honoring the greatest race horse ever, they try to find an underdog story with Diane Lane’s help.”–The Scorecard Review
“My advice: If you’re looking for a nostalgic, inspirational horse-race biopic that doesn’t isolate itself completely from economic, historical, and racial reality, go rent Seabiscuit.”–Slate
“The horse racing in the film is wonderful. It was shown from the horse’s perspective…but I’m not sure the Oscar buzz is appropriate here.”–The Huffington Post
Life As We Know It came at number two on the b.o. charts, grossing $14,506,464. However, it only scored a 28% with the critics; they felt the plot was formulaic and predictable, boring, and dull. The overall consensus is that Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel had enough chemistry to be able to pull off their characters, but some, such as the guys from Spill (below), have had just about enough of Heigl’s sameness with her characters.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s much worse.”–Daily Express
“Watching Duhamel and Heigl discover the joys and pains of parenthood is cute as far as it goes, but their story can’t progress too far until the kid is out of diapers.”–Houston Chronicle
“As ‘meet-cute’ scenarios go, it’s one of the more sick and twisted ones out there, not least because it takes all of 30 seconds for the film to forget about Holly and Messer’s grief and embrace the hilarity of poop-filled nappy montages.”–Scotsman
My Soul To Take was the lowest-ranking movie, coming in at the fifth spot and making only $6,842,220. Critics rated this movie at a whopping, searing 7%, citing the dull, lifeless storytelling and uneventful happenings (along with the stupid use of 3D) as reasons to avoid this movie:
“But then maybe it’s asking too much to have characters and a story as one dimensional as this to ever appear to have three dimensions. So in this case, the 3D’s of Craven’s film are: Dumb, Dull, and Deceptive.”–KPBS.org
“That Craven is earnestly trying to make an on-the-level, snark-free horror flick signals a welcome sea change in his career.”–Slant Magazine
“It’s good, theoretically at least, to have Craven back. But why come back for this?”–AV Club
Top five movies of the week are:
1. The Social Network (repeat number 1!): This week–$15,451,991, Overall–$46,021,461
2. Life As We Know It: $14,506,464
3. Secretariat: $12,694,770
4. Legend of the Guardians: This week–$6,888,019, Overall–$39,273,984
5. My Soul to Take: $6,842,220
All ratings stats from Rotten Tomatoes, all monetary stats from Box Office Mojo
