Movie-O-Meter: Boyhood Shines, Sex Tape Fizzles + Our Take On Other New Releases

SEE IT NOW!

Boyhood: Easily one of the most-anticipated films of the summer by film critics and indie fans since its debut at Sundance this past January. Richard Linklater’s concept film was shot over the course of some 12 years, chronicling the childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood of one boy, Mason (Eller Coltrane), as he navigates the difficult and confusing waters of growing up with two loving-but-divorced parents (Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette). Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

Siddharth: A Canadian film that has garnered strong critical reaction, it concerns Mahendra (Rajesh Tailang), a working man in New Delhi, who sends his 12-year-old son (Irfan Khan) to work in another factory some ways away. When the boy doesn’t return for a holiday, the stricken Mahendra fears the worst and goes in search of him. A study of impoverishment and fierce determination, the film is an emotional powerhouse. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

WAIT FOR DVD

Wish I Was Here: At this point, you know what you’re getting with a Zach Braff vehicle—creative, vaguely amusing bits wrapped around a mopey male character. He wrote, directed and stars in this installment, about a wanna-be actor whose marriage to his dutiful but frigid wife (Kate Hudson) is turning sour, and whose father (Mandy Patinkin) is dying of cancer. There are some serious, dramatic scenes that work surprisingly well, but they are scattered amidst a field of twee details, fantasy sequences, and lots of preciousness. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 43%

SKIP IT!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaoh3PqHG7I

The Purge: Anarchy: Because what better way to solve a nation’s problems than giving its citizens 12 hours a year in which they can enact any sort of violence imaginable without fear of prosecution? James DeMonaco’s sequel to last year’s minor hit is tries to be more than a Warriors-type, night-of-urban-survival shank-fest, but in the end, that’s precisely what it is. There are hints that a growing faction of disaffected revolutionaries plan on overthrowing the evil government regime that’s instigated all of this, but I suppose we’ll have to wait for next year’s installment to find out how far they get. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 60%

Sex Tape: A dreary-sounding comedy from Jake Kasdan, it stars Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel as a married couple who try to spice up their flagging love life one evening by taping their sexual exploits—only to have the footage accidentally upload to a bunch of their friends’ iPads. From the sound of things, a pretty good ensemble cast (including Rob Corrdry, Rob Lowe, Ellie Kemper and Jack Black) is entirely wasted, as are the comic talents of the two leads. The film is idiotic, illogical and terribly unfunny. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 26%

Planes: Fire & Rescue: One of modern Disney’s most blatant and least-inspired cash grabs, the “Planes” series has never fostered much in the way of critical goodwill, and this film, a sequel to last year’s uninspired effort, follows the same unrighteous path. Only if you are totally desperate, parents. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 30%