What to See This Week (02/10/23)
Titanic
James Cameron’s blockbuster film Titanic — remastered in 3D — returns to the big screen for its 25th anniversary. The film is the recounting of 101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater of life aboard the doomed ocean liner Titanic, 84 years earlier. A young Rose boards the ship in first class with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, the poorer Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to board the ship. Rose tells the story from Titanic’s departure on its first and last voyage on April 15, 1912, formed through her love story with Jack. The film stars Kate Winslet, Leonardo Dicaprio, Billy Zane, Gloria Stuart, Kathy Bates, and Victor Garber.
MTRCB Rating: PG
Magic Mike’s Last Dance
AFTER a long hiatus, Mike Lane returns to the stage after a business deal goes bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse until he discovers what she really has in mind. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film stars Channing Tatum, Salma Hayek, Caitlin Gerard, Gavin Spokes, and Ayub Kan Din. The film has garnered mixed reviews, getting a measly 56% on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer. The New York Times’ A.O. Scott writes: “The dance numbers, choreographed by Alison Faulk and Luke Broadlick, feel a bit tame this time around, but the movie still pays ample respect to the terpsichorean craft practiced by Tatum and the hard-working members of Mike’s ensemble.” Meanwhile, Dana Stevens of Slate is less impressed: “To the disappointment of this once-enthusiastic ogler, Magic Mike’s Last Dance fails to capture the eponymous magic of the first two very different but both delightful movies.”
MTRCB Rating: R-13
The Devil Conspiracy
THE FILM’S premise is this: the biggest global biotech company has discovered they can clone history’s most influential people from the dead. Now, they are auctioning clones of Michelangelo, Galileo, Vivaldi, and others for tens of millions of dollars to the world’s super rich. But when they steal the Shroud of Turin and clone the DNA of Jesus Christ, all hell breaks loose. Directed by Nathan Frankowski, the film stars Alice Orr-Ewing, Joe Anderson, and Peter Mensah. Peter Sobczynski of www.rogerebert.com writes, “For a while, I was almost willing to forgive The Devil Conspiracy its numerous artistic trespasses — like its clunky action and clunkier performances — because of the absolute absurdity of it all. However, towards the film’s final third, The Devil Conspiracy starts reining in the craziness and becomes more familiar and repetitive, right when it should be ramping up to even madder heights.” Film Review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes gives it a low score of 27%, and an audience score at 51%.MTRCB Rating: PG
The Point Men
INSPIRED by true events, The Point Men follows a diplomat and a national intelligence service agent who risk their lives on foreign soil to save Korean hostages that have been abducted in the Middle East. Directed by Yim Soon-rye, the film stars Hwang Jung-min, Hyun Bin, and Kang Ki-young. John Lui of Singapore’s The Straits Times writes: “A real hostage crisis has become fodder for an action movie. The consolation is the production has the budget to make it look good.”
MTRCB Rating: PG
