If you like mild, PG-13-rated adventures that are sort of good but not great, then this is your weekend!
In “Unknown” (review at Film.com), Liam Neeson wakes up from a coma to find that nobody knows who he is, and that maybe he isn’t who he thought he was. In “I Am Number Four,” a teenage boy is an alien trying to keep his identity a secret from the monsters that want to kill him. Both movies got a B- from me: modestly entertaining, certainly not bad, worth checking out if the subject matter interests you.
The same cannot be said for “Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son” (review at Cinematical), the third entry in Martin Lawrence’s “Big Momma’s House” franchise. It was one of Hollywood’s Shameful Secrets® (i.e., not screened for critics before its release), yet it turns out to be even worse than that distinction normally implies.
Over at Film.com, “What’s the Big Deal?” takes on “The Grapes of Wrath,” while “Eric’s Bad Movies” deals with “Hocus Pocus.” I note with some pride that Sarah Jessica Parker appears in that movie, yet my column contains no direct mention of the fact that she looks like a horse. I did that as an exercise, like writing a story without using the word “the.”
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