Two summer films this year received a trashing by most critics. I found myself enjoying them quiet a bit. So now that HANCOCK has arrived on DVD, This Weekend’s Film Festival looks at five genre films that deserve a better shake then they received upon their theatrical release. All five films received less than 50% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. All five films are genre flicks (there were some good dramas that could have made the list, but I save those for a future Fest). One is a LAFF (a wonderful phrase coined by Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman meaning Live-Action Animation Feature Film). Two are period piece thrillers (kind of). One is a psychological thriller. The final film is a superhero spoof. To be warned there are some MAJOR SPOILERS in my arguments for the defense of these films. Give this week’s lineup a chance, you might be surprised with what you find.

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Check Out the Trailer

On paper this film seemed promising. A comedy where Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon are forced to visit each home of their divorced parents on Christmas. Their characters are afraid of marriage because of their parents. It could be a great dark satire of modern relationships. That was what I hoped to get. But just like the Christmas puppy I never got, I was reminded that Santa Claus doesn’t always deliver.

Brad (Vaughn, SWINGERS) and Kate (Witherspoon, ELECTION) have a great relationship, but they’re convinced that marriage and kids are not for them. Each year they cook up some excuse to get out of visiting their families for Christmas, while they head off to some exotic beach vacation. This year, their plane is delayed and they get caught on television in Hawaiian shirts. Of course their parents were all watching the news at that moment, so now they have four destinations for ho ho ho day.

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