A remake and a prequel are among the week's new movie releases, and they're both getting mixed reviews from critics.
"Footloose" is a new version of the 1984 dance classic that made Kevin Bacon a star. AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle gave the movie two stars out of four, saying: "The performances (excepting Miles Teller's) are a paler shade of the original, and there's considerably less chemistry to go around. (Kenny) Wormald and (Julianne) Hough are both handsome and good on the dance floor, but they come across more like teen stars in training than representations of real youth angst."
"The Thing" explores the origin of the 1982 John Carpenter monster movie. It also earned two stars out of four from the AP, with Movie Writer David Germain saying: "It delivers a repetitive assault of gross creature effects and action done far better in Carpenter's version, the first two "Alien' films and a lot of other flicks about entities that feed on pitiful earthlings."
The best-reviewed new movie of the week is the latest from Pedro Almodovar, "The Skin I Live In," which is in limited release. AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire wrote in her two-star review: "It's beautifully shot, crisp and vibrant, and features impeccable production design as you would expect from the detail-oriented Spanish master. But it might almost be too pristine, at the expense of real emotional engagement."
Here's a look at how these movies and others fared on the top review websites as of Friday afternoon. Each score is the percentage of positive reviews for the film:
- "Footloose": Metacritic, 59; Movie Review Intelligence, 61.6; Rotten Tomatoes, 73. Average: 64.5.
- "The Big Year": Metacritic, 54; Movie Review Intelligence, 58.2; Rotten Tomatoes, 42. Average: 51.4.
- "The Thing": Metacritic, 49; Movie Review Intelligence, 50.4; Rotten Tomatoes, 33. Average: 44.1.
- "The Skin I Live In": Metacritic, 70; Movie Review Intelligence, 76.7; Rotten Tomatoes, 82. Average: 76.2.
- "Trespass": Metacritic, 39; Movie Review Intelligence, 35.6; Rotten Tomatoes, 15. Average: 29.9.
- "Fireflies in the Garden": Metacritic, 34; Movie Review Intelligence, 34.3; Rotten Tomatoes, 20. Average: 29.4.
---
Online: