Movies With Butter

This weekend, we’re looking at quite the schizoid set of new releases—one film, the more popular of the two with the critics, is an epic action film inspired by one of the oldest tales in human history, and the other is a cheesy action film from one of the classic action heroes who refuses to quit.

Opening today is Noah, the tale inspired by the Bible figure of the same name, played by Russell Crowe. Coming out hot on the heels of Son of Man, the film follows Noah’s building the ark to save himself and his family (Jennifer Connelly, Logan Lerman, Emma Watson) from the divine wrath that will cleanse the earth of evil in the form of a catastrophic flood.

For the most part, the folks at Rotten Tomatoes enjoyed the film, as it is currently rated at 76%. While the movie is receiving some criticism for mindlessly embracing CGI action sequences (not to mention those that get offended at the perceived inaccuracies in the story), most agree that the epic visuals are well-suited for the story, and make for an enjoyable movie. Box Office Guru predicts opening weekend revenues of $36 million for the film.

Also opening today is the latest explosion-riddled film featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sabotage. Ah-nold plays the head of a DEA team that stages a successful raid on the base of operations major cartel, and then is subsequently picked off member by member, suggesting at best an assassin, and at worst, betrayal.

Critics weren’t nearly as impressed with this film, as evidenced by its disappointing Tomatometer rating of 19%. Most everyone is disgusted with the film, due to both the extreme level of violence and the minimal level of competent filmmaking. Consequently, it’s only projected to earn around $6 million over the weekend.

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