In Theaters: June 27th, 2014

There is only one wide release this weekend.  No one dares compete with . . .

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Director Michael Bay is at it again.  And how can we resist?  We can't.  And we won't.

Ehren Kruger returns to his writing duties in this the fourth installment of the Transformers franchise.

It's been three years since the last one (instead of the usual two).  The former star of the franchise, Shia LaBeouf, will not be returning.  But who cares when Mark Wahlberg is our new leading man for the franchise!?  Shia LaBeouf went off the deep end anyway.  Don't believe me?  You should.

"I am not famous anymore"

We think he's been crazy this whole time and is only now showing it.  Still, he did really well in the first Transformers.

Transformers: Age of Extinction is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language and brief innuendo.

      Big Shot Critic

P.S. The Grand Seduction is currently playing at a Harkins theater in Scottsdale.  Finally!

In Theaters: June 20th, 2014

Two more wide releases this weekend.

Jersey Boys

From director Clint Eastwood.  He does a lot of medium to heavy drama but this is his first "musical."

It's all about the formation of The Four Seasons.  And I'm sure it's also about how dramatic it all was.

Jersey Boys is rated R for language throughout.

Think Like a Man Too

I just watched the trailer and I still have little understanding of the premise.  What I got was a bachelor party and a bachelorette party in Las Vegas.  Somehow they turn it into a battle of the sexes.

Director Tim Story returns from 2012's Think Like a Man.

Think Like a Man Too is rated PG-13 for crude sexual content including references, partial nudity, language and drug material.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: June 13th, 2014

Two wide releases this weekend.  And one limited release that just might be playing somewhere in Arizona.  I'm still looking.

22 Jump Street

Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller offer their second movie this year after (you might not see this coming) The Lego Movie!  These two (Lord and Miller) are the current go-to guys for crazy comedy.  And they have switched deftly from family friendly fare (Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs) to R-rated comedy (21 Jump Street) and back to family (The Lego Movie).  Can they do it again?  Probably yes.

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Dean Deblois returns to writing and directing duties for this sequel to the 2010 hit.

All I have to say is that some sequels look like they will be a serious turn for the worse and some don't.  This one looks like they took the time to make another good one.

The Grand Seduction

I'm a big Taylor Kitsch fan.  I don't know much about this movie.  I know Taylor Kitsch is in it!

It's about a small fishing village in Eastern Canada that will have a manufacturing plant if they can only secure a doctor to live there.  If they convince the doctor to stay, the jobs will come.  Taylor Kitsch is the doctor coming to check it out and Brendan Gleeson is the mayor.

I still haven't found any theaters that are or will be playing it in Arizona.  What a shame!

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: June 6th, 2014

There are two wide releases.

Edge of Tomorrow

I have high hopes for this one and early reviews are very positive.  As the poster notes, you know director Doug Liman from The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

With The Bourne Identity Mr. Liman really did change action movies.  Don't believe me?  Watch a hand to hand combat action sequence from before 2002.  After Jason Bourne everything had to be faster.  Will Doug Liman change action movies again?  Maybe.

This was originally titled All You Need Is Kill.  I kind of don't understand how Edge of Tomorrow can be the same movie, but I see why they made the change.  All You Need Is Kill is the name of the book from which the movie has been adapted.

Christopher McQuarrie is listed among the writers.  That is a huge plus because he's great.  He wrote Jack Reacher.  Go watch it if you haven't seen it.  He's also on board to direct the next Mission Impossible movie.

The Fault in our Stars

Another adaptation but from a totally different kind of book.

The Fault in our Stars is adapted from a book of the same name.  It is a romance novel about two teenagers who fall in love.  The trick here is that one of them (I think just one) has a cancer that could turn terminal at any moment.  Or something like that.  I don't actually know if it ends like A Walk to Remember or not so don't blame me if it is an exceptionally sad movie.

The female lead is Shailene Woodley.  We remember her from Divergent earlier this year.  The male lead is played by . . . well, who cares?  Shailene Woodley is in it, that's good enough for me.

Director Josh Boone just had his fourteenth birthday!

Happy Birthday, Josh!

Okay, okay, he's not fourteen.  He looks about fourteen but he's actually thirty-five.  He did another love story movie a couple years ago that we don't know much about.  It did get fair reviews and that's all we know.

The writers also look like they're fourteen and to be honest I don't know for sure if they aren't.

Anyway they've written some pretty good stuff so I don't doubt this movie.

HEADS UP:

Next week I might break some rules and mention a limited release movie.

      Big Shot Critic