The Purge: Movies worth sitting in a theater for this weekend

Much of the country waits all year for the dog days of summer and it takes a theatrical miracle (otherwise known as a “summer blockbuster”) to get us to sit in a dark theater. While these features don’t quite hit the blockbuster chart, they’re worth having a sit-down in the AC for a couple hours.

Lily-livered gals like me are scared witless by the idea of this movie, but we give The Purge a 10 for premise. Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey star as a couple whose home is impenetrable during a nationwide 12-hour period where crime is legalized. The only weakness in the family’s home security system is if someone inside the home disables it, which is what the son does when he sees a wounded man in the yard. The wounded man comes with a creepy masked gang who wants him dead, which is their right during this 12-hour legalized crime spree. Kind of gets you thinking: What would you do, if anything, if you wouldn’t be charged with a crime? Some are claiming there’s a political agenda at play in the film, and have gone so far as to say the movie is an attack on the Tea Party and the NRA. Guess we’ll just have to check it out (through webbed fingers, naturally) to decide.

SheKnows summer movie guide: June, July & August 2013 >>

The only thing we love more than Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn is Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn together. After being teased with this trailer for months, we finally get to see our favorite kings of comedy together again. Yesssss. Thank you, movie gods. In The Internship, Wilson and Vaughn lose their jobs and decide to intern with a group of child geniuses at Google. The themes of old and stupid team up to give us one knee-slapper after another. Will we sacrifice an afternoon of summer sun for such a movie? Mentally, we’re already there.

Battle of the flicks: The Internship vs. Much Ado About Nothing>>

The Kings of Summer ask: Why live when you can rule? Indeed. Reason number 1 to sacrifice a summer afternoon to watch this movie: Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation). Reason number 2: Megan Mullally. Reason number 3: Official selection of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Reason number 4: You’ll relate if you’ve ever been a teen and wanted to divorce your parents. Reason number 5: You’ll relate if you’ve ever been the parent of a teen and wished they would move out. Reason number 6: It’s been touted as Sundance’s funniest comedy (yeah, we know that’s not saying much some years, but still).