In Theaters: July 18th, 2014

There are three wide releases this weekend.

Planes: Fire & Rescue

The follow-up that nobody asked for is here.

Less than a year after Planes hit theaters Fire & Rescue is coming at you.  Last year's Planes was developed and produced by Disney's direct-to-video team.  It wasn't even meant to see the silver screen until somebody changed their mind.  It's this kind of thing that gets Disney such a bad reputation with my generation.  Planes was a half-cocked attempt to ride on the success of Pixar's Cars franchise.  I make special mention that Pixar is not involved in Planes in any way.

There is something interesting about this sequel, however.  Something interesting and absolutely terrifying.  There is no writer credited with this screenplay.  I have never seen that before.  What does that mean?  I really don't know!  Could it be so bad that nobody wants their name attached?  Maybe.  Either way it's terrifying.

Planes: Fire & Rescue is rated PG for action and some peril.

The Purge: Anarchy

James DeMonaco returns to write and direct this horror sequel.

The Purge was another inexpensive and fairly successful horror film.  Of course it gets a sequel.  The basic premise of both movies is an annual "purge" day when nothing is illegal for 24 hours.  Because, you know, horror movies.

The Purge: Anarchy is rated R for strong disturbing violence, and for language.

[DEEMED INAPPROPRIATE FOR MY BLOG]

There is a third wide release that I don't care to mention here.  When the content of a movie is offensive that's one thing.  But when the title is something I wouldn't mention in front of kids - that's something else.  And there is no room for that on my blog.

      Big Shot Critic

UPDATE!

There is now a fourth wide release scheduled for July 18th, 2014!  It is . . .

Persecuted

Now here is a movie that might be interesting.  When I first saw a trailer for it I didn't think it would get a wide release, but here we are.

Persecuted is a political thriller centered around a televangelist turned fugitive who is framed for a murder after refusing to get out of the way of religious reform.

Frankly, this hits close to home.  I see Christians all over being persecuted for "outdated" beliefs all the time, albeit in much less dramatic ways than being framed for murder.

See the trailer here.

Persecuted is rated PG-13 for violence and thematic elements.