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For people who know what it’s like to eat the vile cheese: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

The sequel to the popular boy movie from 2010 suffers from the same fate that so many sequels do. It lacks some of the heart and much of the humor of its predecessor. By this, I mean that while Diary of a Wimpy Kid is at its core one of the best representations of what it’s like to be a boy, Rodrick Rules is more of the same. It does not distinguish itself enough to create a memorable individual perception away from the first title. The end result is that Rodrick Rules was not as well reviewed, it did not earn as much at the box office and it will not be as positively remembered as the original. Still, it earned more than enough at the box office to justify further sequels, ones that will hopefully stand on their own merits more than Rodrick Rules. Of course, if you have a pre-teen boy, none of the above matters. If he has not seen the movie already, he will want to do so and even if he has, he will probably want to own the discs. Wimpy is in right now.

For people who remember to take deep breaths before saying long winded movie titles: HappyThankYouMorePlease

This former Sundance selection is more interesting due to its talent than its premise. The production synopsis describes this as “a group of 20-something New Yorkers struggling to figure out themselves”. The matrimonial hijinks of one of them meeting the future mother of their children may or may not be involved for this Josh Radnor vanity project, but if you can get past the fact that he seems to be making movies out of recycled How I Met Your Mother scripts, there is a lot of positive here. The cast is headlined by twin goddesses of love Malin Akerman (Watchmen) and Kate Mara (127 Hours) with Tony Hale (Arrested Development) and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) also onboard. As far as indie films go, this has one of the best casts in recent memory, which is enough for me to give it a shot. Your mileage may vary, especially if you are sick and tired of CBS jerking you around on the identity of the mother.

For people who prefer the older model of Taylor Lautner: The Eagle

Channing Tatum’s abs get transported by the second century in order to allow him to fight some sort of 300-ish war. He portrays a member of the Roman legion who is designated for assignment in Britain and this presumably causes him to move in slow motion and glisten sweat in his armor at several points and he probably goes topless more often than the less muscular average soldier of the era. The Eagle was a box office disappointment, failing to earn back its modest $25 million budget in domestic release. It’s also not particularly well reviewed, making this a project that is more popular with people who want to sexualize Channing Tatum than those who want quality movie fare. Still, if you are on the fence about this one, I should note that director Kevin Macdonald’s two most recent movies are The Last King of Scotland and State of Play. He has earned a certain amount of trust from me due to the top notch quality of both films, each of which made my top 10 for their year of release.

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