In Theaters This Weekend

Travelocity meets Tragedy

Four films, three days, one weekend. Which one will you go see? Adam Sandler's latest romantic comedy Just Go With It, Disney's Gnomeo and Juliet, Channing Tatum's swords-and-sandals epic The Eagle, or... Justin Bieber. 

More after the cut -- 

Last weekend, Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly stalked their way to the top of the box office with The Roommate (keep an eye out for the review soon) and Sanctum shot straight to no2, leaving No Strings Attached, The King's Speech (!), and The Green Hornet rounding out the top5 money earners for the week. The Roommate pulled in a little over $15 mil, just shy of its flat $16 mil budget. Of course, this film will make its money back by the end of its theatrical run, but... I wouldn't expect it to linger at the top for much longer. Not with the Justin Bieber documentary coming out, anyway!

Let's start at the top and work our way down, with this weekend's releases, shall we?

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. G.

Meeting middling reviews so far, Justin Bieber's "inspirational true story" is being brought to theaters. In 3D, no less. Why? I have no Earthly idea. But, regardless, we follow The Biebster from his early childhood into his late childhood waiting for his voice to finally break him to catch his big break. Of course, (spoiler alert?) he does, and we're most likely treated to a 3D concert at the end. Look - I'm sure he's a nice kid. And he has talent, of course. It's the over-exposure that's killing him. Am I seeing it? Sure. Do I have an interest in seeing it this weekend? God, no.


Gnomeo and Juliet. G.

This, of course, isn't the first time Disney has tackled Shakespeare. See The Lion King for a beautiful take on Hamlet. But, something feels so wrong about Gnomeo and Juliet - and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's the animation that bugs me? Could be. Maybe I just didn't laugh at all during the trailer? That's true. But, much like the Bieber doc, I'll see it, mainly because I gained trust back in Disney after the wonderful Tangled last year. James McAvoy and Emily Blunt provide their considerable talent to the cast, so I'm sure I'll enjoy myself to some degree. I'm just tired of seeing the trailer. That, and any sort of action figure release promo for the film is obviously just going to be trickery to further the Garden Gnome market.


The Eagle. PG-13.

Jamie Bell and Channing Tatum are excellent actors. I'll be the first to say that out loud. And Kevin MacDonald is a hell of a presence in the directing world, with The Last King of Scotland being solid proof. Perhaps this film, if it succeeds like I think it will, will be another entry into the awards season for him? Or, will it pull a... let's say, a The Four Feathers and flop as soon as its released? I think fortune will shine on The Eagle. It won't win an Oscar, but I think it'll be remembered for a few months.


Just Go With It. PG-13.

Adam Sandler stars as a man with nothing to lose, who gains everything, only to lose it again. Unless he can pull off the biggest lie of his womanizing career. Fake a marriage to get laid, fake a divorce from your fake wife to keep the woman you lied to to sleep with, and then drag innocent children into the mix to complete the illusion. Here's the thing - I usually enjoy Sandler's movies. So, yeah, I'll see this. But, I have a feeling I'm just going to wind up either bored, offended by something, or both. Either way, I'll be reviewing this soon. I'm intrigued to know my reaction.


What will you be seeing this weekend? The Justin Bieber movie, yeah? no. It's The Roommate. I'll be championing that until the end of the year.