Movies With Butter

This week offers an interesting contrast with its two new releases—one is a suspense-thriller with some moralization and social commentary thrown in, the other a digital-age comedy. Unfortunately, critics were decidedly less than impressed with both films.

Coming out today, from the twisted minds that brought us Sinister, Insidious, and other such horrifying films is The Purge, the tale of a future in which all crime is legal for one night a year, and a family’s struggle to not only survive the night, but to restrain from the barbarism that sweeps the nation during the night.

While the film may have an interesting premise, critics say the execution was a little lacking—Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 44%. The film tries to put an original spin on your garden-variety “someone’s-in-the-house” suspense film, but it ultimately falls short of both its social critique and its scare factor. Box Office Guru estimates its weekend gross at around $19 million.

On a much lighter note, today also brings us the comedy The Internship, the tale of two forty-something men (played by Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson) whose jobs become obsolete in the digital age, and must attempt to land a job at Google through a competitive internship.

Once again, the critical reception was not so great—the film currently sits at 33% on the Tomatometer. While the Vaughn-Wilson interplay is entertaining, they’re held back from their true potential by the film’s lackluster, formulaic script. Its weekend revenues are estimated at $17 million.

• Prev:  Archie Movie Will Not Have Zombies
• Next:  Chevy Chase and Gillian Jacobs Hop in 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2'