1. THE COUNSELOR
R
Fox
RUSS
The combination of Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Cormac McCarthy and a first-rate cast should have resulted in a riveting drama. Unfortunately, “The Counselor” is an utter miscalculation.
SHAWN
“The Counselor” is an utter waste of time and a colossal waste of talent. I really thought filmmakers stopped trying to make the next “Pulp Fiction” 15 years ago. Insert groans…
RUSS
Dark, ugly and off-putting, this thriller about the fruits of greed may be too smart for its own good.
SHAWN
Smart? “The Counselor” is completely dumb. But worst, it doesn’t have a single original idea and it’s painfully boring.
RUSS
McCarthy’s rhetorical dialogue would have worked better in a novel but sounds downright silly coming out of the mouths of the characters. Fassbender is excellent and the cast members do the best they can with the thorny script, but the end result is that “The Counselor” is a convoluted and ultimately dreary drama with a depressingly bleak worldview.
SHAWN
Russ, Defenbaugh called. The want “The Counselor” back.
RUSS: 2 Popcorn Bags
SHAWN: 1 Popcorn Bag
2. BAD GRANDPA
R
Paramount
RUSS
From the other end of the intellectual spectrum comes “Bad Grandpa.” Johnny Knoxville dons elaborate old age makeup to play an 86-year-old man who goes on a cross-country journey with his 8-year-old grandson, played by Jackson Nicoll. Along the way, they prank unsuspecting people with their inappropriate R-rated behavior, and the video is captured, “Borat-style.”
SHAWN
There are four really funny scenes that are borderline brilliant. A couple that are way too raunchy and a few that flat out bomb.
RUSS
This movie is wrong in every conceivable way, but thanks to the genuine reactions of the people who get punked, it’s often very funny. My three Popcorn Bag rating is only for those who aren’t easily offended.
SHAWN
I didn’t mind the raunchiness. That’s sort of the direction American movie comedies have been going in for years. Nothing is really that shocking anymore. I just wish the movie was more consistently funny. It’s a great premise. With better writing could have been a perfect low-brow experience for those looking for cheap laughs.
RUSS: 3 Popcorn Bags
SHAWN: 3 Popcorn Bags
Also opening this week: “A Touch of Sin” is a Chinese drama reportedly inspired by four actual events that examine the effects of greed on contemporary Chinese society. “The Summit” is a drama about the ill-fated 2008 attempt by 22 climbers to scale K2. The Glenwood Arts will feature a couple of the winners from the Kansas International Film Festival, the documentary “Blood Brother” and “Construction,” a comedy about blue collar workers looking for love.
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