So the big attempt at a blockbuster this weekend is The Dark Tower, the long-awaited adaptation of the popular novels by Stephen King. I know a few people who love the Dark Tower books and were looking forward to the movie, even though general consensus seems to be that the books are so dense and there's so much going on that it would probably work better as an HBO series or something. And what's weird about the movie is that it's not really an adaptation of any one book in the series; instead it kind of remixes elements from all of the books and at the same time acts as a sequel to the entire series... as someone who hasn't read any of them, I'm already kind of confused. They got some talented people here, with Idris Elba as the Gunslinger and Matthew MccConaughey as The Man in Black, the two characters who are pitted in an eternal battle of good vs. evil against each other. I'm hearing that the movie is not very good, but that it's also not as terrible as some are making it sound - most seem to agree that it's just boring and mediocre, which to me seems even worse. Like, if it was terrible, at least it would have gone for something and worst case scenario, we could all have fun laughing at it. But the word is it is needlessly complicated, it won't make any sense to anyone who hasn't read the books, and whatever expansive mythology King has crafted over the years in the books has been whittled down to a 95-minute movie that's geared more towards a Hunger Games-type audience than anything else.

So that's a bummer, but there is another movie out this weekend - this one will likely also be a bummer, but because it's actually meant to be. It's called Detroit, the new film from Kathryn Bigelow, who used to make action movies like Point Break earlier in her career but now has pivoted into dramatic interpretations of real, harrowing events, which worked out well for her with The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. This one dramatizes the racial tension during an incident in Detroit in the summer of 1967. John Boyega, who plays Finn in the new Star Wars movies, stars in the lead role, and Anthony Mackie, Will Poulter and John Krasinski are all featured here as well. I've heard some say that the story doesn't come together well enough to justify subjecting yourself to the movie's horrors, but most of the reviews have been incredibly positive, saying the film is gripping and horrifying and that it should certainly be seen. It definitely won't be a fun time at the movies, but it looks to be an experience worth having.

So Detroit is my pick for you to go see this weekend, and until next time, we'll Meat at the Movies.

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