This week at the movies, Reese Witherspoon sheds her goody two-shoes persona, and a bunch of pretty twenty-somethings get spooked by ancient Egyptian ghosts. One of these things is more interesting than the other!
Wild
Reese Witherspoon is done—done!—with playing Miss Perfect and Miss Perky. The actress is in the middle of a career overhaul (similar to that of Matthew McConaughey’s) going after darker, more complex parts. A few years ago, she started her own production company and picked up the bestselling memoir by Cheryl Strayed, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. The story is about Strayed’s personal journey (an ex-heroin addict and divorcee) who struggles to overcome the loss of her mother by taking an 1,100-mile hike from the desert through the mountains and ending in the woods of Oregon. Witherspoon plays the title character and she is getting raves for it.
Perfect For: You like dramas of personal growth; wilderness stories (like another one about getting lost and found in nature, Into the Wild.) You like Thoreau, Whitman, and Emerson.
What the Critics Say: Oscar bait! Writes Rolling Stone: “With the help of a scrappy script by Nick Hornby that allows bursts of humor to break through the darkness, Witherspoon cuts to the bruised core of Cheryl's heart, rattling between desperation and determination.” And says New York magazine: “Witherspoon's edginess makes her easy-and fun-to read; her face registers every bump on the path.”
Our Take: Going!
Watch the Trailer:
The Pyramid
The Pyramid is a horror movie set in an Egyptian pyramid. Instead of a haunted cabin in the woods (The Cabin in the Woods), or a haunted campsite (Blair Witch Project), or a haunted house (all of them), or a haunted doll (Chucky), it’s a haunted ancient pyramid. No one’s ever done that in a movie! A bunch of young, good looking archaeologists find the pyramid and go inside and of course all the spooky ghosts are mad. Things go bump, and you go “boo!” (That’s the plan, anyway.)
Perfect For: Fans who are bored of rewatching all 200 Paranormal Activity movies.
What The Critics Say: There are no reviews for The Pyramid. Silence equals box office death!
Our Take: Nope!
Watch the Trailer: