Here are the reviews from today’s show:
Muppets Most Wanted isn’t bad but it isn’t very memorable either. The movie is sufficiently entertaining but it isn’t quite up the expectations viewers have for this franchise, especially in comparison to the Muppet movies of Frank Oz and Jim Henson.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been involved in films of varying quality but Sabotage is among his worst projects and it’s even more disappointing to see David Ayer’s name attached to this garbage. At the very least this movie should have been fun but it’s a joyless slog.
Noah is an independent feature made on the scale and scope of a Hollywood blockbuster. It suffers from some storytelling flaws but those defects are far outweighed by the filmmakers’ accomplishments. Like many of director Darren Aronofsky’s films, it will probably benefit from multiple viewings in order to parse out the themes but that is a testament to the intelligence and skill—and yes, faith—with which the movie has been made.
The Agony and the Ecstasy is not really an epic movie but it was forced to fit into the epic format due to filmmaking conventions of that time. Despite being baggy in places, the movie is very entertaining, it has a pair of strong performances by its principle actors, and it manages to be a thoughtful consideration of the perils of adapting sacred texts into graphic form.
Full reviews are posted in the Sounds of Cinema archive.