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It is almost odd to have a box-office roundup without any definitively awful movies on the list.  While the critics are unanimous about the dire quality of modern cinema, audiences (voting via IMDB.com) at least found something they liked out of this week’s cinematic offerings.  This week the big openers are:

• Righteous Kill
• Eagle Eye
• The Strangers

While there are no masterpieces being released this week, it is still a breath of fresh air not to have any groan-inducing stinkers on the list.  The South African cinema chains seem to have gone on a mission lately to provide the worst kind of entertainment, so any respite is welcome.

Let’s have a look at whether it is safe to venture out to the movie houses, or if you are better served renewing your DVD rental contract…

Righteous Kill (2008)

Ever since The Godfather: Part II, which co-starred Robert De Niro and Al Pacino without ever letting them come face-to-face on screen,  audiences have been waiting patiently for the Italian-American versions of Robert Redford and Paul Newman (I will let you decide who is who) to share the screen. Director Michael Mann teased us with some suspenseful scenes in the brilliant Heat, but it has taken 34 years since The Godfather: Part II to do a proper cinematic pairing.

In Righteous Kill, De Niro and Pacino play veteran New York detectives on the trail of a vigilante serial killer, who appears to have a connection with a case they apparently solved years ago.

Along with De Niro and Pacino, Righteous Kill sports a (mostly) solid supporting cast including Carla Gugino  (American Gangster, Sin City), John Leguizamo (The Happening, Empire, Romeo+Juliet), Donnie Walhberg (Dreamcatcher, Band of Brothers) and screen veteran Brian Dennehy.  The inclusion of 50 Cent in the cast, however, is troubling…

Critics have been almost unanimous in their disdain for Righteous Kill while audiences have given it a lukewarm reception. The truth is that any fans of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino will probably go and see it no matter what – which is probably what the film makers were banking on in the first place.

Eagle Eye (2008)

Eagle Eye centers on Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf – fresh from Transformers and the new Indiana Jones movie) a college drop-out framed as a terrorist and forced to run from the FBI by a mysterious woman who contacts him via his cell-phone.  While on the run he encounters Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan – Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Gone Baby Gone ) who’s son has been threatened by the same woman.  Together they are thrown into an increasingly dangerous spiral of events as they try to stay ahead of the FBI and discover the identity of the sinister woman who seemingly knows their every move.

Eagle Eye appears, for all intents and purposes to be the paranoid thriller for generation now.  The trailer is very reminiscent of films like Enemy of the State and the cringe worthy The Net (with a smattering of 2001: A Space Odyssey thrown in for good measure.)

Critics have been unkind, while audiences have given a reasonably warm reception to Eagle Eye.

The Strangers (2008)

The Strangers is this week’s lucky packet pick.  While both of the films listed above have generous budgets and an experienced director and production crew, The strangers features a first time writer-director and a shoe-string budget.

The Strangers stars Scott Speedman (best known for his werewolf-vampire turn in the Underworld movies) and Liv Tyler (Stealing Beauty, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) as a young couple who decide to go to a remote vacation house after a wedding reception.  Late at night a knock on the door plunges them into a desperate fight for survival with a trio of sinister invaders.

Critics seldom take kindly to horror films, and predictably they are gave The Strangers a below-average reception. However, audiences have taken a moderate liking to the film.