3 Best Movies in Theaters Right Now: ‘The Nice Guys’ and More
Even with big-budget superhero movies dominating recent weeks at the box office, there are still plenty of other amazing options out there as well. That’s where we come in, delivering our weekly staff-curated list of must-see cinema. This weekend’s bunch include the best buddy cop movie to come out in years, the sequel to a popular a comedy, and plenty more. Here’s what’s out now, courtesy of your friends here at Cheat Sheet!
1. The Nice Guys
It’s been a tough few years for the buddy cop genre. Movies like Ride Along have become the order of the day, making us long for a time when Lethal Weapon and Bad Boys were the gold standard. Thankfully, Shane Black, the original writer for the first Lethal Weapon movie, is back to raise the bar once again. The Nice Guys stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, as two men unraveling the crime of the century in 1977 Los Angeles.
The film is nothing short of a breath of fresh air for buddy cop movies. Everything from the visual gags to the dialogue is head and shoulders above what we’ve seen recently in the realm of action/comedy. The evidence can be seen in a stellar 91% Rotten Tomatoes score, with critical consensus labeling it a call “back to the buddy-cop comedies of a bygone era.” For our own viewing, we have a hard time disagreeing, making it a no-brainer for our top must-see movie of the weekend.
2. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
Typically, we get about 2, maybe 3, halfway decent comedies every year. 2016 may buck that trend in a big way though, with 2 solid comedies in a single weekend. Neighbors 2 brings back stars Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, this time taking on a newly moved-in sorority as they attempt to sell their own home. Nicholas Stoller (Get Him to the Greek) is back to direct the sequel, making for an A-list comedy team (a 63% Rotten Tomatoes rating obviously doesn’t hurt it either). Suffice it to say, if you’re looking for a double-feature type of day this weekend, Neighbors 2 would make a perfect pairing with The Nice Guys.
3. The Angry Birds Movie
We’ll admit, we’ve had our fair share of criticism for the film adaptation for the Angry Birds mobile game. It’s a thin concept to base a movie on, and for all intents and purposes, it has “Hollywood cash grab” written all over it. And yet still, the difficulty in finding a halfway entertaining animated movie not made by Disney/Pixar is undeniable. The Angry Birds movie appears to provide us with just that, with Rotten Tomatoes’s critical consensus calling it “substantially more entertaining than any film adapted from an app has any right to be.” It’s not exactly glowing praise, but if you’re looking for something to take the kids to this weekend, you could do way worse.
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