Movie Reviews

The Other Woman

Director: Nick Cassavetes

20th Century Fox

In Theaters: 04.25

Cameron Diaz stars as high-profile attorney Carly Whitten, who has become smitten with her new lover, Mark King (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). But, when she finds out he’s married to Kate (Leslie Mann), the two form an odd girl-power friendship and seek revenge, especially after discovering he’s cheating on both of them with Amber (Kate Upton). Obviously, not every movie will be made for a 32-year-old man who’s into “Star Wars,” but when your 30-year-old wife leans over to you in the middle of a chick flick and proclaims, “This movie is a piece of shit,” you know something’s wrong. Everything from the literal soundtrack (Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” over the city skyline and the “Mission Impossible” theme song for the snooping around segments) to the wooden performances from everyone involved (it’s clear Upton was hired for her enormous and natural acting abilities), this movie is the definition of a train wreck. It’s even more disturbing when it’s coming from Nick Cassavetes, the guy who brought you The Notebook, a romantic film I can actually support. While the word “revenge” is uttered in every advertisement, it’s not spoken until 65 minutes into this catastrophe, so we’re given montage after montage of boredom and non-stop whining. Any man who is dragged to this calamity by their significant other is allowed one affair. Fair is fair. –Jimmy Martin

The Signal

Director: William

Eubank

Focus Features

In Theaters: 06.13

As they drive across the country to California, friends and computer whizzes Nick (Brenton Thwaites), Jonah (Beau Knapp) and Haley (Olivia Cooke) make a stop in the Nevada desert to track down the notorious hacker, Nomad. As they search an abandoned shack, they suddenly encounter an unfathomable abduction. When Nick regains consciousness, he finds himself quarantined in a government facility with an inquisitive agent (Laurence Fishburne) searching for answers. Director William Eubank imprisons the audience in the same restraints as his actors and gradually unveils the truth behind the confrontation with the extraterrestrial biological entity. Fishburne plays the character you love to hate as he torments his detainees. The film pays homage to other cult classics like The Blair Witch Project and District 9 without appearing derivative. Along with Fishburne, the entire cast builds an increasing amount of tension until the final and unbelievable explosive climax. The only distraction comes in the final moments of the film. As the mystery is being unveiled, an overbearing dubstep score blasts through the speakers, disrupting the general tone of the production. Obviously, it’s not enough to ruin the film, but it certainly leaves a question as to why it was added. –Jimmy Martin