Meat at the Movie: Lightning McQueen, Tupac, and One Terrible Movie

So the biggest movie out this weekend is probably the new Disney/Pixar movie, Cars 3. Now the Cars movies have always been kind of lower-tier Pixar, and I think the studio knows that so they're trying to make this one a little more serious. Lightning McQueen gets into an accident and gets pushed out of the sport he loves, then he gets trained by an unlikely ally to try to come back in the end. It's essentially a kids movie version of Rocky III - what is kind of interesting is that Paul Newman appeared in the first movie before he died, and apparently this one features some unused stuff from that performance to bring his character back this time around.

Then there's Rough Night, the new R-rated female ensemble comedy that is kind of being advertised as the next Bridesmaids. The movie details a bachelorette party gone horribly wrong, and has a great cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer and Zoe Kravitz. I'm hearing ok things about this, that it has a very dark sense of humor but that it may wear out its welcome for some viewers.

We've also got All Eyez on Me, the new biopic based on the life of Tupac Shakur. The movie follows Tupac's early days in New York City all the way up to his death, and stats Demetrius Shipp Jr, and a kind of cool detail is that Jamal Woolard, who played Notorious BIG in the movie Notorious a few years back, plays that role again in this movie. Unfortunately, I'm hearing All Eyez on Me isn't very good, that it's way too long, never has a good angle for the story, and that it feels like it was made just because Straight Outta Compton was so successful.

Then there's a new shark attack movie called 47 Meters Down, which stars Mandy Moore and Claire Holt as two sisters who get trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. It's been getting pretty mixed reviews across the board, but I think it sounds pretty solid, like it could be a pretty effective thriller if it's paced well. We had a great shark attack movie last year with The Shallows starring Blake Lively, so if you can't see this, I'd recommend checking that out.

And finally, this weekend also sees the release of The Book of Henry, a smaller movie from director Colin Trevorrow, who did Jurassic World and is attached to direct Star Wars: Episode IX. And guys, I am hearing this movie is terrible. Like, multiple critics I follow have called it one of the worst movies they've ever seen. The movie centers on a child genius who's taking care of his negligent mother played by Naomi Watts, and then it becomes a domestic abuse drama about the girl next door, and then it turns into an intense thriller, but it's all made like it's a Spielberg movie from the 80s - it actually sounds fascinatingly bad, and I might watch it one day out of morbid curiosity. But one thing's for sure, it really makes me worried about Star Wars.

Anyway, nothing got great reviews this weekend, but Cars 3, Rough Night and 47 Meters Down all have the potential to be pretty good, and until next time, we'll Meat at the Movies.