Meat at the Movies: Martin Scorsese vs. Marky Mark

It's a great weekend to go to the movies as a whole bunch of awards contenders are finally out in wide release. Find out what's coming this weekend with Meat at the Movies!

The big release this weekend is the new film from director Martin Scorsese, the 3-hour religious epic Silence. Scorsese has actually been trying to get this movie made for close to 30 years, so fans of his are very excited to see the director's vision. The movie stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Drive as two Jesuit priests in the 1600s who travel to Japan to search for their mentor (Liam Neeson), who has mysteriously gone missing. Silence is getting strong reviews and looks to be one of the better dramas this year, though some viewers may not be able to handle its long running time and incredibly bleak worldview.

Also out this weekend is Patriots Day, the new film which re-teams Mark Wahlberg with director Peter Berg, who also directed Wahlberg in Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon. Wahlberg plays a fictional cop present during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and the film details the entire affair from start to finish, beginning with the bombing and going through the entire manhunt that followed. Some reviewers have taken issue with Wahlberg playing a fictional character while everyone else in the movie is playing a real person, but Patriots Day has gotten solid reviews and should be worth checking out.

And there's Live By Night, the new movie directed by and starring Batman himself, Ben Affleck. Affleck has gotten a lot of acclaim as a director for movies like Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo, but it's looking like Live By Night breaks the streak. The movie is getting mostly negative reviews, and though it's 1920s Prohibition-era setting is appealing, viewers are likely better off watching old episodes of Boardwalk Empire.

Of the movies opening up this weekend, I'd say Silence is definitely the one to go see. Until next time, we'll Meat at the Movies!