Robert DeNiro’s an intern; Tobey Maguire’s a chess genius; Hotel Transylvania is open for business again, and Eli Roth is back to scaring the bejeezus out of you. It’s fall movie season!
Pawn Sacrifice
The true story of Bobby Fischer, the chess prodigy, and his face-off against the Russian super-player, Boris Spassky, has been recast as a psychological and political thriller. Starring Tobey Maguire as Fischer, who appears to be having a mental breakdown, and Liev Schreiber as his Russian nemesis. Also starring another amazing actor, Peter Sarsgaard.
Perfect For: You like your historical dramas to be filled with intrigue and Cold War paranoia.
What the Critics Say: Actually, say the critics, this is pretty good. Writes Rolling Stone: “Biopics are a dime a dozen, but Tobey Maguire gives such a transfixing, transformative performance as chess master Bobby Fischer that you're hooked.” And says Entertainment Weekly: “While the first half of the film is a bit too by-the-numbers, the second half is good enough to make it worth sticking it out.”
Our Take: These three actors, plus the true story, equals yes.
The Green Inferno
He’s baaaack. Eli Roth, the man behind the extremely disturbing horrorcore flick Hostel, has a new movie. In this case a group of do-gooder student activists travel to the Amazon rainforest, but when their plane crashes they are overtaken and held captive by natives. But there’s something more unusual about those natives (and possibly more offensive than mere horror schlock). Let’s just say they have a lot in common with Hannibal Lecter.
Perfect For: You think Saw is a good time. Don’t bring the children.
What the Critics Say: Roth’s movies are a cut above the rest of the horror worlds (pun intended), so they actually weighed in. So far, the verdict is: well-made, gross, scary, but not necessarily a heart-stopper. Says The Wrap: “A serviceable reintroduction to Roth's idiosyncratic brand of horror, but it fails to either offend or exhilarate, instead chronicling the misadventures of a group of student activists with more technical acuity than singularity.”
Our Take: Mmmm, wait for the Netflix release when you can hold me?
The Intern
Robert DeNiro stars opposite Anne Hathaway in this fish-out-of-water tale. Hathaway is a successful tech CEO who hires an intern, an older retired man who ran his own business, looking for something to do. Guess what? They become friends and he mansplains things to her. Zzzzzzz.
Perfect For: You want a romantic comedy between an older man and a younger woman without the romance? You like other Nancy Meyers movies (Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated, What Women Want) and want more warm, cuddly, semi-funny feelings.
What the Critics Say: The word “meh” in a two-hour movie format. Writes Variety: “It takes all the leads' considerable combined charm to forestall the aftertaste of the pic's smug life lessons and near-comically blinkered worldview.”
Our Take: I’d see the Eli Roth movie before I’d see this.
Hotel Transylvania 2
The sequel to the animated kids movie about a group of vampires and ghouls and monsters that run a hotel, returns with more monster-human mingling. The human boyfriend (voiced by Andy Samberg) and his vampire lady (Selena Gomez) had a kid who isn’t showing much monster material. While the couple is visiting California, the monsters decide to train the wee lad, guided by Adam Sandler as the most masterful monster of all, Dracula. It looks like a fangtastic time.
Perfect For: The children. Yes, even with Sandler.
What the Critics Say: No reviews, but then, it’s a kid’s movie.
Our Take: Despite the fact that Adam Sandler is attached, it kind of looks adorable. And the last movie did boffo box office.
