After a frantic few weeks of blockbuster releases, the box office gets a little bit of a break this weekend until Transformers 4 restarts the summer movie season next week.
This does not mean that there is nothing new coming out and fans of musicals, ’50s rock and Clint Eastwood as a director will want to check out Jersey Boys.
Based upon the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, it tells the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and how they went from a blue-collar life to selling 175 million records before they were 30.
Director Eastwood is best known for his gritty acting roles and directing dramas like the Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven and he may seem out of place directing a musical. However, he has a long history as a musician, composing the soundtrack and contributing songs to many of his movies plus he directed Bird, the bio-pic about jazz musician Charlie “Bird” Parker.
The biggest name in the cast is Christopher Walken as Eastwood wanted to have the stage actors who made the musical a classic including Canadian Michael Lomenda.
And if Jersey Boys doesn’t interest you, this weekend is the perfect chance to catch up on a few that you may have missed. 22 Jump Street and How to Train Your Dragon 2 were number one and two respectively at the box office last weekend, both getting strong critical reviews as well.
Another good choice that people seem to be overlooking, maybe because it stars Tom Cruise and maybe because of the Groundhog Day-type storyline, is the sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow, but both critics and audiences say give it a chance.
Also in the top 10 is Maleficent, The Fault in Our Stars, X-Men: Days of Future Past, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Neighbors and Chef.
Other recommended movies that you may have missed include Blended, Godzilla, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Other Woman plus the entertaining nature documentary Bears returns to town this weekend at the Encore Capitol Theatre in West Kelowna.
