Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (for Friday, June 15th)

Andrew: Hello readers! While we've been a little quiet here this week on Two Tickets For... because of heavy workloads with our day jobs, it doesn't mean we're going to miss our weekly preview!

Sarah, this week we only have two big releases: a film adaptation of the Broadway hit Rock of Ages (directed by Adam Shankman, who also did Hairspray) and Adam Sandler's new R-rated comedy That's My Boy. Let's talk about Rock of Ages first because let's be honest, we love the trailer for this film every single time we see it (and you can see below if you haven't).

Official Trailer for Rock of Ages

Sarah: SO excited for Rock of Ages! We’ve been waiting a long time for this to come out and I couldn't be more excited. This cast is going to rock out. With such powerhouse performers, some of whom are proven amazing singers, this musical will bring new life to this Broadway hit. However, with such a large cast there is always the risk that it will be a complete flop, especially with such a personality as Tom Cruise. 

What do you think?

A: I'm very intrigued to see how the different actors perform in a singing role. That's usually what makes or breaks a musical film, you know? We know some of the actors have some singing chops, like Mary J. Blige, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julianna Hough and Russell Brand. But how will Malin Akerman sound? Alec Baldwin? Paul Giamatti? Yikes.

But I'm VERY interested to see how Tom Cruise does. By all accounts so far he's the main reason to see the film and he gives it his all as rock star Stacee Jaxx. Also, it's no secret if you know me that I absolutely love 80's music, so I'm particularly interested to see the film's renditions of Journey and Foreigner songs.

S: Oh yea, I totally cannot wait to rock out to all the classic rock. I love me some musicals. I am really hoping that Cruise's role it as awesome as his role in Tropic Thunder. I love that as part of his comeback he isn't himself too seriously all of the time. 

Anyway, I think it's safe to say that we're excited about this one. Ok, so the next one that we have is That's My Boy. I'm not going to lie, I am a little nervous about this one. I am not always the biggest fan of Adam Sandler. He's kind of a joke in my opinion and I'm not sure how I feel about the actual story.

A: I figured this might be one that we go into a little split on, because I'm actually looking forward to this one. I'm not expecting it to be a classic comedy like Sandler's old films Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, but the fact that it's a hard-R comedy gives me some hope. It's definitely not one of his family comedies like Grown-Ups or Just Go With It.

Official Trailer for That's My Boy

I like the plot set-up of Sandler playing a guy who knocked up his junior high school teacher at a young age and has a son almost his age that he royally screwed up. I'm not expecting the story to be phenomenal but I'm looking for lots of laughs, and I'm assuming we'll get some because of this cast. Look at this list of people who are in it along with Sandler and Andy Samberg (that consists of lots of former SNL-ers):

- James Caan

- Will Forte

- Rachel Dratch

- Nick Swardson

- Ana Gasteyer

- Colin Quinn

And then a whole LOT of cameos from the looks of it on IMDb. If it makes me laugh more than The Dictator I'll call it a rousing success.

S: I will have to agree with you that. It can't be much worse than The Dictator  so I am hoping for some more laughs. I just am worried that his cheese-ball accent and Jersey-Shore look will really distract from the story. The hard-R will probably help with some of the comedy, but I really don't have high hopes for this one.

A: I should add that while I like the comedic premise of Sandler's character knocking up his junior high school teacher, it will be interesting to see what the general public's reaction will be for a film that starts with statutory rape to kick off the ensuing hijinks. I think that's something that we'll touch on in our review.

S: Yea I guess I hadn't really thought about it that way. Yea what is up with all the movies bringing up topics that really are a little touchy?! 

Oh well, it's still going to be another fun weekend at the movies!

A: So with these being the only big releases, we guarantee that we will be seeing them at some point this weekend and our reviews will be posted shortly thereafter! Have a great weekend, readers, and as always thanks for reading!